


New Insights

by Lei_sam



Series: The adventures of the Ironfamily [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bad English, Drabble Collection, IronStrange, M/M, Mild Gore, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Beta Read, Old Avengers Team, Team Dynamics, Team Iron Man, Writing Exercise, new avengers team, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-07-06 18:43:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15891843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lei_sam/pseuds/Lei_sam
Summary: “You know Rogers, it took me a long time to see it, but even a fifteen-year-old showed more compassion for my parents’ death than you've ever shown”Stephen had heard enough, he made his scape, but not before taking a last look at Roger’s ashamed face.OrStephen Strange overhears a conversation and gains a new insight of one Tony Stark.





	1. New Insights

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there, this is my second attempt at writing for this fandom.  
> The story contains some ironstrange drabbles. As usual, sorry for the horrible grammar and mistakes, English is not my first language. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

Stephen could see the regret in Captain America's face; whenever he thought no one was watching him, he'd look at Tony Stark with a sad look written on his face.

At the time he assumed, just like everyone else, it was because of the Accords, and the frankly childish way they all had handled it. But as time passed, and Stephen got to know Tony and Steve a bit better, it was pretty obvious it was something that ran deeper than a simple disagreement.

He had a strong feeling it had something to do with the Winter Soldier, and the way Stark rarely spared a glance towards the soldier outside of the strictly necessary, even during missions. They seemed to have a barely civil relation, but that was all.

His suspicions where confirmed one afternoon, when he overheard a fight between the Captain and Stark. He'd never seen Stark's face so devoid of any emotion, in contrast to the Cap's frustrated and furious face.

“...Rhodey welcomed the lot of you with opened arms, so please tell me gain, just how is it that I'm "poisoning” the team’s dynamics with my attitude?"

“Then what is it Tony? Why do you keep that attitude towards the team? towards me?”

Stephen hadn't wanted to eavesdrop on them, he was on the upper floor of the open ceiling common room, waiting for the elevator, and it seemed that none of them had noticed his presence. He felt he had no business hearing any of their arguments, so he decided he needed to get out of there. At that point, opening a portal started to seem like his best and swiftest form of scape, seeing as how long the elevator was taking. Just as he was about to leave to do just that, he heard Stark's voice, it was barely a whisper.

“Did it ever occur to you, that all I wanted was an apology?”

Rogers immediately took a defensive stance. “Tony, I will not apologize for standing up for what I thought was the right thing, for saving an innocent man’s life...”

“And I'm gonna have to stop you right there Rogers, because that's the sort of bullshit that's made me lose all interest and respect in you”

Stephen could no longer see their faces, but he could only imagine the Cap’s bewildered face at those words.

“Tony, what...?”

“You know, it took me a long time to see it, but even a fifteen-year-old showed more compassion for my parents’ death than you've ever shown. A simple`Tony, I'm sorry your parents were murdered by my best friend, he was brainwashed, but that does not make your grief and your loss any less valid’ would've been a good start”

Stephen had heard enough, he made his scape, but not before taking a last look at Roger’s ashamed face.

A horrible realization hit him just then, Tony Stark had been working alongside the man who had (willingly or not) murdered his family, and it seemed that Rogers had known all along.

As he made his way back to the library, he wondered just how much of a hell Stark had gone through, and why he kept going along with it. It suddenly dawned on him just how deeply Stark’s commitment with protecting the world ran.

He hadn’t initially bought the image he was presented with, surely, a man like Stark must get some sort of benefit from playing a role as a superhero. He’d clearly misjudged the man.

In that moment he gained a new sense of respect for Anthony Stark, and suddenly, the man itself seemed far more intriguing than he'd once thought possible.


	2. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But why work with them again, after all they’ve done? Why would YOU take the responsibility of all this Tony?”
> 
> “And who else was going to do it? There was no one else left, with Rogers and their little merry band in hiding, I was the only one left to face the consequences, and I’m still facing them… but I’d rather become the public’s scapegoat, than to leave earth defenseless against what is to come”
> 
> Or
> 
> Stephen takes Tony out to dinner, and suddenly, he learns more about Tony than he’d ever imagined.

Stephen stood outside the lab leaning against the wall. Tony was surprised to see him there, but if he were honest with himself, it was a rather nice surprise.

“Hey Doc! Long time no see, what can I do for you?” he greeted the Doctor cheerfully, already anticipating a nice chat with the man. They both had had a bumpy start, not really getting along those few first days, what with Tony still trying to figure out how to move ahead, and how to solve themess left behind by the betrayal of those he had considered his friends.

The doctor had been surprisingly sympathetic of the situation, once he’d realized what Tony was going through, and what he was trying to achieve. He saw just how relentlessly Tony worked to bring forward the Accords, to dispel the bad name Rogers and company gave to the rest of the superheroes, and even when the rogues had given themselves up and asked to be included into the Accords, he saw just how much Tony pushed to not let said rogues rot in a jail, but for them to get a fair trial and to seek retributionfor all parts involved.

Stephen didn’t fully understand Anthony Stark. To him, Tony was a man of contradictions, but he could get behind the effort Iron man was doing to protect the world. Stephen himself had the responsibility to protect the world againstany magical and mystical threats, he was the Sorcerer Supreme after all, and he could see how beneficial an alliance between them could become.

After a rocky start, they’d hit it off surprisingly well, and, to everyone’s surprise and disbelief, (included Tony’s), they had engaged on a constant flirting game. The oftentimes sober and earnest doctor would reciprocate Tony’s silliness and playful banter with his own, on what was rapidly becoming a battle of wits. They both enjoyed it greatly, anyone could tell, so Tony had decided that the dear doctor was rapidly becoming one of his favorite people.

Stephen stood beside the open lab doors, contemplating on how to best voice his request.

“Tony, I’d like to have a few words with you, if you are free?”

“Of curse doc, my time is all yours, should we take this to my office?”

“I was rather thinking we could go somewhere else?”

That took Tony by surprise. “Sure doc, you had a place in mind?”

Stephen’s wicked grin made Tony smile. “I actually know of a great place down in Brooklyn”

 

* * *

 

They both sat at a small restaurant at the side of the East River, almost below the Brooklyn bridge. The view was spectacular; the city lights illuminated the night sky, and their reflection on the water gave it a rather magical atmosphere.

“My dear doctor, consider me pleasantly surprised, this place is quite spectacular”

“Yes, it is indeed. This is one of my favorite places from this side of town, I find the view quite... captivating” he gave Tony a quick wink, making the later let out a startled laugh.

Their waiter came along and offered the couple their menus. Taking the opportunity to compose himself, and after giving his order to the waiter, Tony turned his full attention to the other man.

“So, tell me doc, what is it that you wanted to talk about? At this rate, I’m afraid I’ll say yes to anything you ask of me”

“Oh, is that so Mr. Stark?” Stephen asked teasingly, raising one eyebrow “Well, fear not, there is nothing I want fromyou, at least, nothing you’re not willing to give freely”

“You never cease to surprise me Doctor” Tony took a sip of the drink he’d been served “but as much as I know you enjoy my company, I really doubt you invited me here just to flatter me”

They both shared a flirtatious smile, but Stephen did have a couple of concerns he’d been dying to talk over with Tony, so he thought he might as well try his luck.

“I’ve been giving a serious thought to your offer concerning my status as an Avenger, but before I elaborate, I would like to ask you a couple of question, and I’d appreciate your total honesty Tony”

Sensing Stephen’s serious mood, Tony quickly sobered up.

“Of course, I’ll try to answer to the best of my ability, so, fire way”

Stephen took a moment, looking Tony in the eye. Once he made sure Tony was being serious, he decided to ask what he’d been worrying about for the last couple of months.

“I’d actually like to know a bit about yourself Tony”

A startled laugh escaped Tony’s lips. “Is that so?”

“Indeed. I am rather curios about your motivations, what drives you so relentlessly to be a superhero”

Tony was thrown away by Stephen’s question. It was whathe enjoyed the most about the man, he made Tony stay on his feet, because he could blindside him with a topic and then throw him something completely unexpected.

“Well, to be honest, this feels more like an interview than a simple conversation doc, is my commitment to the team your concern?”

“Not at all, but you see, I like to know the people I work with, my colleagues, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me, this is a rather large endeavor that we’re investing ourselves in, don’t you think?”

Colleagues, as in Stephen’s equal. Tony couldn’t stop the comparison his mind made with his old team, how they all seemed to think of him as a team mate, but never an equal, never a friend. He was always somehow apart from them, only considered when he was useful, and the one responsible when things went wrong.

As if he could read Tony’s mind, Stephen scooted his chair closer to him, and asked him in a gentler voice “I’d like to know what happened with your old teammates, and if theymight be a problem for you or the new team”

Tony was reluctant to replay all those bad memories, but he understood where Strange was coming from. To an outsider, the Avengers must seem like a bunch of so called superheroes that couldn’t even work together anymore. If he were in the doctor’s place, he too would have reservations on joining such a dubious organization. But this was important, and he had promised he’d try to be as honest as he could, so he decided to tell Stephen the truth.

Taking a deep breath, he began to recount the last couple of years of his life. He started with the Accords, the ensuing disagreement he had had with Rogers and company, and the Winter Soldier’s involvement. Rhodey’s accident, the Witch’s animosity and the Widow’s betrayal. He decided to leave out his parent’s deaths, there was only so much he could take in one night after all. He only mentioned a disagreement he’d had with Rogers and Barnes. He told Stephen about the fight, and how it had ended when Rogers had practically left him half dead in Siberia.

Stephen seemed furious by the end of his tale. He seemed outraged at Rogers actions. It was still so weird for Tony, people taking his side and not Captain America’s.Intellectually, he knew the captain had made a lot of mistakes, but emotionally… he’d spent so much time accepting the blame for things he had literally no control over, that it was hard to let go of that feeling.

Stephen knew Tony had left out the Winter Soldier’s true involvement in the fight, but it was ok, he understood Tony’s need for some privacy, after all, he already knew about the Stark’s tragic ending. Although he felt that the fact that Tony had left out that detail was very telling in on itself. It was precisely the fact that Tony’s parents had been murderedwhat justified his reaction and the ensuing fight with his ex-teammate. It had been expected for someone under that kind of stress to lash out, and yet Tony kept that hidden, as if he’d internalized the blame and assumed he was in the wrong. Had no one ever told him he had the right to be mad? That he was a human being, and as such, he was expected to act explosively under such stress?

“But why work with them again, after all they’ve done? Why would YOU take the responsibility of all this Tony?”

Tony knew what Stephen meant, why him? why not someone else? why expose to all the public’s scorn once again? Those were questions that still plagued him, but he knew he had to do it, he’d known for a long time that a great responsibility laid on him. Ever since he’d been plagued by those visions depicting the end of the world, he knew it was only a matter of time before something like that happened.

“And who else was going to do it? There was no one else left, with Rogers and their little merry band in hiding, I was the only one left to face the consequences, and I’m still facing them… but I’d rather become the public’s scapegoat, than to leave earth defenseless against what is to come”

That caught Stephen’s interest “What…”

It suddenly downed on Stephen, indeed, WHY on earth would Anthony Stark subject himself to such torments to bring back a team that so obviously despised him and go to such lengths to recruit new members. Why was he bending himself over backwards to appease the world governments, when he wasn’t the only responsible for the superhero community? Why indeed? Unless he had an exceptionallygood reason for it.

“A threat so great that exceptional measures must be taken…” Stephen let out with a whisper, realization hitting him like a bucket of cold water.

That was what Tony loved about Stephen Strange, the man was brilliant and intuitive. He’d been afraid of not being taken seriously if he disclosed his true intentions but was now relieved to see Stephen at least understood. But now came the moment of truth, he needed to gauge if he could count on the man when the time came.

With a deep breath, he nervously fidgeted with his tie“There’s a great danger coming our way. Ever since the battle of New York, I’ve been worried that something equal or more dangerous is going to set its sight on earth. Everything I’ve done ever since, has been done in an attempt to get ready for that. I do not know yet what the threat is, but I KNOW it’s coming, and I’ve dedicated my every waking hour to try and stop it when the time comes”

With a sigh, he leveled his eyes with Stephen’s, a determined face overcoming his tired features. “You asked me what drove me so relentlessly… it is exactly this fear doctor, knowing that there’s something out there, and knowing we´re not yet prepared for it”

Stephen was speechless. His suspicions were correct. Suddenly Tony’s attitude made sense, his frantic search to gather a team to defend the earth, his willingness to forgive those that had wronged him, just so earth could have a fighting chance when the time came.

“Rogers, their pardons, all of that…” Stephen asked bewildered.

Tony nodded, slumping back into his chair with a resigned air.

“Yes, I’ve been doing my best to keep the lot of them out of jail, they’re really no good to me locked away, when we could be preparing for the future”

“What about Rogers?” Stephen suddenly asked.

Tony got a little defensive at the mention of that name. “What about him?”

“Is there a chance he could become the leader of the Avengers once again? Because I would gladly follow you Tony, but not Steve Rogers”

Tony was shocked, so far, no one had openly declared that they would rather choose him over Rogers, it was an overwhelming feeling.

“No, there’s not a chance. He’s already shown what he’s capable of. Even the Accords have been written around the premise that he will no longer hold a leading position, not without proper supervision, and never having total authority over any unit”

They stayed quiet for a moment. Stephen seemed relieved, Tony noticed. But there was something that was bugging him, now that he really thought about it.

“Strange, can I ask you a question?”

With a curious glance, he opened his arms in a ‘ask away’gesture.

“Please do, I deem it only fair that you ask me something in return, seeing as how I’ve been bombarding you with my inquiries all evening”

Tony smiled, a sad face on his face. “You really think I’m making the right call? Including the old Avengers, I mean”

Stephen seemed to mull this over, thinking over his response.

“I believe you had limited options, and you ARE quite famous for working with limited resources” They both shared a small smile, no doubt Tony’s scape from death when he had been captured all those years ago came to mind.

“But as long as YOU are leading this team, yes, I think you took the best decision”

Tony seemed puzzled. “Oh? So, me leading the team makes a difference?”

Stephen leaned forward, putting a reassuring hand on top of Tony’s.

“It makes all the difference in the world”

 

* * *

 

 Their diner plates had come long ago, but none of them really felt hungry after the nights revelations, so they decided to leave the restaurant and take a stroll down the dock.

They were both quiet, Stephen mussing over the information he had just discovered. Tony was just relieved he had finally told someone. He knew Rhodey suspected Tony was planning something, but he hadn’t wanted to burden his friend, not with all the things the man had to deal with after his accident. He had been his strongest supporter, during the Accords and even before that, he really couldn’t ask anything more from his friend. Vision was out of the question, it was just too hard to look at the android in the eye and not think of JARVIS and Ultron. A constant reminder of his failures and regrets. As a result, he hadn’t really been able to form a strong relationship with him, deciding to stay on the sidelines of Vision’s life. Bruce was no where to be found, he’d spent countless of hours and resources to find the man, but it was as if he’d simply disappeared from the face of earth. Pepper had been the only one left, but the pressure had simply been too much for her. She hadn’t been able to cope with Tony’s increasingly erratic behavior. Bless her soul, she had tried, God, how much she had tried, but it was like the palladium thing all over again. He couldn’t blame her, not really, he knew he was driving himself to the limit, dragging everyone close to him to a bottomless pit, but there was simply nothing he could do about it. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, with no way to stop it, and nothing to do but sit back and hope for the best.

“I’m in”

The sudden outburst took Tony by surprise.

“What?”

“I’m in, I’d like to become a full time Avenger” Stephen looked him in the eye, a worried but determined expression on his face.

“Whatever is to come, I’ll help you Tony”

A smile spread across Tony’s face. A relief like none he’d ever felt took hold of him. Perhaps he didn’t have to fight this alone, there might be some hope yet. The Doctor would be a huge asset to the team. But most importantly, he was someone Tony could actually trust.

Suddenly the future seemed a little bit brighter, his shoulders a little bit lighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I based the restaurant on a place I visited in NY a couple of years ago. It was one of the most romantic places I’ve ever been to, so make what you want with that little detail :)


	3. Everyone likes churros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “God damnit, I swear I’m gonna ground that kid if he doesn’t show his face soon”
> 
> Or
> 
> Peter is left out of a mission, and Tony worries he might decide to do something stupid.

“For the last time kid, stay put!”

The alarms where blaring inside Tony’s lab.

“But Mr. Stark!! I could help!!” Peter was desperately looking between his suit now laying on one of the lab’s tables and the opening window Tony was fast approaching.

“Kid, please, we don't have time for this. Just trust me ok?”

Iron Man quickly took to the air, leaving behind a gruntlinglooking Spider-Man.

Tony and Peter had been working in the lab, making some adjustments to Peter's suit, who had once again jammed the web shooters mechanism. Tony was showing him how to take them apart, so he could repair them himself when they had received a distress call. A terrorist cell had taken a couple of hostages in a news station, they were threatening with blowing up the place if their demands were not met.

Tony, sensing time was of upmost importance for this mission, ordered Peter to stay behind. He had no time to put the suit back together, and even when he knew the kid was more than capable of doing it himself, he didn’t want Peterto do a rushed job. Spider-man would have to sit this one out.

“FRIDAY, talk to me girl, what’s the situation?”

“I’m on it Boss. It is a confirmed hostage situation, police have already been dispatched, the main roads have been blocked and traffic diverted. Captain Marvel has confirmed her assistance, as well as The Wasp and Iron Fist, their ETA is two minutes”

Tony could already see the police lights up ahead and with a burst of speed he descended beside a startled looking officer.

“Good day officer, mind if we give you a hand?”

The man looked relieved, he stepped aside and instructed the rest of his men to give the newcomers some space and assistance if they needed it.

Tony heard a small thump behind him, signaling the others arrival. “So glad you guys could make it! Let’s get to work people!”

They made quick work of contacting the terrorists, distracting them long enough for the Wasp to infiltrate the building. Once inside, she disabled the locked doors and relayed the terrorist’s number and locations, allowing for Captain Marvel and Iron Fist to move into the building and diffuse the situation. Iron Man, whose armor was not ideal for indoor maneuvering, took to the east side of the building, where he identified and diffused a couple of homemade bombs.

It only took them a couple of minutes to apprehend the terrorists, Carol and Danny dragging them out of the building and handing them over to the officers. Meanwhile Hope and Tony were overlooking the evacuation of the building, helping everybody get out safely.

Everything went smoothly. A congregated crowd of onlookers even gave them an enthusiastic ovation when they left the scene. It had been an overall successful mission, there had been no injured, they apprehended everyone involved and the public seemed to support them. Tony was feeling pretty happy with the team’s performance, he was starting to believe they could really work as a permanent replacement for the old Avengers.

Tony’s good mood quickly vanished once he contacted FRIDAY and asked about the little web swinger.

“I’m afraid Peter left the building not long after you left boss”

“What? Are you kidding me? Did he take the suit?” Tony asked with an exasperated grunt.

“No boss, but he wouldn’t tell me where he was goingeither, just that he needed to take some fresh air”

Tony felt a twinge of worry, he didn’t want to think the worst, but the kid had proven once and again just how easily he could get in trouble.

He decided to call Peter, make sure the kid was ok.

“Boss, he’s not answering his phone”

“Crap, ok, FRIDAY please locate him with the tracker”

“I’ve got two locations Boss, one in the lab, that would be the suit, and one in the compound’s garages”

“The garage? What’s he doing there?”

“I’ve already checked, but he’s not there, boss, apparently young Mr. Parker misplaced his phone inside one of the cars”

“God damnit, I swear I’m gonna ground that kid if he doesn’t show his face soon”

The team had arrived at the compound, they all looked relieved to be back and just about ready to get some deserved rest. Tony stood to the side, giving FRIDAY some instructions to keep looking for Peter.

“Tony, what’s the matter?” Captain Marvel hovered over to where Tony was. “Is something wrong?”

“I…no, it’s just that I had to leave a grumpy Spider-man behind, and now I can’t find him and he’s not answering his phone”

“You think he might have decided to follow us on the mission?”

“I don’t want to think it, but I’m starting to consider it”

Hope and Danny came over, intrigued by Tony’s flustered face and Carol’s concerned frown.

“Hey guys, what’s wrong?” Asked a tired looking Danny, he really wanted to get some dinner, he was starving.

“Spider-man seems to have gone missing, he’s not answering his phone and FRIDAY can’t seem to find him”

“Do you want us to start looking for him? When was the last time you saw him?” Hope intervened, she had a soft spot for the kid, and could only imagine what Tony was feeling. Everybody had seen the close relationship those two had, not unlike that of a father and son.

“Just before we left the compound, his suit was disabled, and we were working on it, I’m starting to worry that he might have decided to take his old suit to play as some sort of backup or something”

“Is that something he has done before?” Danny asked, not as worried as the rest of them, from his perspective Peter was a good kid, and he could take care of himself.

“Yes, the little bugger has a tendency to…” Tony stopped mid-sentence, he got a message from FRIDAY.

“Boss, I located Mr. Parker, he’s making his way to the compound, he seems unharmed”

“Oh thank god! I’m gonna kill the kid when I see him”

Everybody let out a relieved sigh.

“Calm down Tony, we’ll see what Peter has to say for himself, come one, I don’t know about you all, but I’m starving!” Danny went ahead and started to walk towards the compound, everybody else following him.

 

* * *

 

 

They were just finishing preparing some dinner, Tony had offered to get some take out, but Carol had insisted on preparing them some lasagna, and everyone else had agreed. Everyone helped in one way or another, the boys causing more of a mess than actually helping, so they’d been assigned to get some dessert. Tony and Danny had both agreed on some Ice cream.

FRIDAY alerted Tony of Peter’s return, giving Tony enough time to reign in his temper, he’d been debating between being worried and being angry, he wasn’t sure yet what he felt, it would probably depend on whether the kid was safe and sound or not.

He knew the Peter wasn’t really a kid, and that he hadn’t done anything wrong, not really, aside from misplacing his telephone like the clumsy teenager that he was. He knew it was just his concern for the brat’s wellbeing making him overreact, but he couldn’t help himself.

He stood frozen once he saw Peter entering the kitchen, his internal debate all but forgotten. The kid had his arms full,carrying a big brown bag.

“Kid? What's that?” He couldn’t help but ask out loud

“Hey Mr. Stark!! I bought everyone churros!!!”

“Churros?” Tony’s dumbstruck face must’ve amused Peter greatly, because he couldn’t stop grinning.

“Yeah!! I saw the news!! You all did great! and I thought you might like some churros to celebrate!!!”

An incredulous silence filled the room, followed by an explosion of laughter “You're something else kid!!” Carol said amused, she’d just taken the lasagna out of the oven and was placing it on the nearby table.

“What? why? you guys don't like churros?” Peter’s confused face was rather endearing, and it made Tony feel ashamedfor not trusting the kid.

“It’s not that, kid, Tony here thought you were mad at him and that you had decided to disappear or something when you didn’t pick up your phone” came Danny’s helpful reply.

“I…you…what? I haven’t gotten any calls from you” Peter seemed perplexed by that.

“Peter, you left your phone here in the compound, we were trying to call you to make sure you were ok” replied Hope, she felt relieved that the kid had shown up unharmed.

Peter quickly reached into his pockets, belatedly realizing that he indeed wasn’t carrying his phone

“Ups” was all he managed to respond with a sheepish face

With a sigh, Tony came over and helped him with the bag “Kid, just try not to give me a heart attack next time ok?”

“Yeah, sorry Mr. Stark, but I still don’t get why you thought I would do something stupid like that, you asked me to trust you, and, well, I always trust you”

“See Tony? he's a good kid! you don't give him enough credit” Carol could barely hold in her laughter, already helping Peter take out a couple of plates to serve the churros.

Tony let out a defeated huff, helping himself to a churro.

“I'm sorry Peter, I shouldn't have doubted you”

“It's ok Mr. Stark, I know you were worried, May gets like that sometimes too” Peter told him with a wide small on his face, unaware of what he’d just implied. And, to be honest, Tony didn’t mind. He felt he had become something akin to a father figure to Peter, and, if anyone asked, he wouldn’t have it any other way.


	4. Repercussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is bullshit Stark! why the fuck do you insist on keeping us here?”
> 
> Or
> 
> The ex-vengers learn the consequences of their actions following the civil war, and they are not happy about it.

It had been a rather successful training session. The new team was more in sync with each passing day, and everyone could tell. Their members knew they were part of something big, of something that would change the world, and their excitement was palpable. Even the ex-vengers could sense it.

Today Rogers and company had come along to meet everyone formally. Both teams had seen glances of each other, but no ‘official’ introductions had been made yet. The Accords council had only just recently allowed the ex-vengers to join the team trainings, and from this point onwards both teams would train together, new and old members alike.

It had been a nightmare for Tony to get a fair deal with the Accords council and the UN regarding the renegades. Tony knew they would be of no use to anyone if they stayed hidden in Wakanda or playing hide and seek with the many governments that wanted their heads. So, they had reached an agreement: according to the graveness of their crimes, they would each serve community service under the orders of the UN, aiding in any and all missions approved by the Accords. This decision had been received with mixed reactions, from both the general public and the ex-vengers. Rogers had been especially hard to convince. Tony had just been amused, it seemed like the Cap had been under the impression that he could actually have a say in his sentence; his lawyer had had to explain to him that he simply had no other alternative, he HAD to serve his sentence, whether he agreed with it or not. That had come as a rude awakening for the captain.

The ex-vengers would also be under house arrest for the foreseeable future, and THAT had been a rude awakening for Tony, because the Accords and the UN had unanimously decided that they should stay at the compound. Tony had tried to argue that he could not house them, he’d even offered to fund a maximum-security building where they could stay, but they had been adamant that they should be supervised by enhanced people, and there had been no way to turn their decision. Tony knew that it was futile to argue, that he had to comply, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He felt like karma was knocking on his door, delivering his own personal punishment for all the bad things he’d ever done in his life.

Rogers and company had also been forced to comply with some strict training courses imposed by the Accords on a wide range of topics, from team building to some civic and ethic classes, they even had to sit down and study the Accords, having to understand them fully before they could return to active duty. The people responsible for the Accords had implied the Captain had been rather lacking in his formation as a leader which had unsurprisingly not boded well with the ex-vengers. As a result, Rogers had also been forced to attend a leadership seminar, even though he no longer could claim that position in any of the teams.

A tense moment had been palpable when the ex-vengers arrived at the training grounds. With a resigned sigh, Tony had come forward and summoned everyone to the adjacent boardroom, they would be having a meeting to get everybody acquainted.

Tony made some quick introductions, making well sure everybody understood their roles. Iron Man and Captain Marvel would serve as their new indisputable leaders. Tony had aggressively rallied for her appointment; Carol had the background, the training and the integrity for the job, and the rest of the team had agreed. The Accords hadn’t felt comfortable letting Tony handle the new Avengers by himself, and he really couldn’t blame them, at least not after Ultron and the Avengers break-up. So, he hadn’t really opposed to the idea of sharing the leadership of the team with someone he could trust.  
As for the rest of the team designations, Rogers would serve as their strategist, with Hawkeye as their long-ranger. Jessica Jones, War machine, The Falcon and Vision would function as their air support. Iron fist, Daredevil, Spider-man and The Widow were their close-range fighters, while Luke Cage and the Winter Soldier would function as their heavy hitters. Ant man and the Wasp were their wild cards, and finally, Dr. Strange and the Scarlet Witch would take care of the magic side of things.

“Each and every one of you has a critical job, but I’m confident in your abilities, you’ve shown time and again what you are all capable of, so let’s do our best to make this team a success”  
A chorus of cheers and whoops could be heard from the new avengers, making the rest surprised, they’d never imagined Tony’s new team would be backing him up so completely. Right from the start they could see a comradely they themselves had never achieved.

Tony thanked them, and bid them farewell, he then asked for Rogers and company to stay behind, he needed to have a word with them. Romanoff and Barton shared a meaningful glance, no doubt they’d been expecting this meeting. Rogers just looked annoyed, but he took a seat next to Barnes nonetheless. Maximoff and Wilson took opposite seats at the far end of the table near Natasha.

Just then, a woman dressed in a dark suit entered the room accompanied by Rhodes. They quickly made their way to the front of the room next to Tony.  
Tony and Rhodey shared a glance, they’d been postponing this reunion for as long as they could, but the time had come to face all the ex-vengers and to reincorporate them to the new team roster. “Welp, this is gonna be fun…” Tony said in an undertone to Rhodes, both men already regretting having to be the ones in charge of this tedious part of the job.

Clearing his throat, Tony introduced the woman. “Everybody, this is Ms. Ann Gray, she is the Accords and UN representative, and your new liaison officer, Ms. Gray, thank you for coming today” with a small nod, Tony took a step back, so the officer could address the rest of the room.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark”

Ann Gray was a tall and severe looking woman, she’d been tasked with the rather difficult mission of supervising the rouges, and she was NOT happy about it. She began by explaining the way the ex-vengers would work with the new team. They would attend a training session 2 times a week, with additional training whenever it was required of them. They would also be available for any and all missions the Accords and the UN appointed them to. Finally, she explained in detail their house arrest arrangements; they would have restricted access to the compound. They would be confined to the west building that had been especially remodeled for their inhabitance. They would not have access to the common areas of the main compound, unless a special permit were granted to them. Ms. Gray was finishing listing the things the ex-vengers were prohibited to do when Barton couldn’t hold his tongue any longer.

“This is bullshit Stark! I’m sure you’re having a hard on just by knowing you’ll have us locked up in one of your fucking buildings, why the fuck do you insist on keeping us here?”

Ms. Gray would have none of that, she visibly bristled by what Hawkeye had said.

“Mr. Barton, Mr. Stark has absolutely no say whatsoever where you serve your sentences, this was decided by the Accords council, furthermore, if you insist on complaining over these arrangements, you are more than welcome to submit a complaint, and the council can and will consider your transfer to a maximum-security prison. In the event that you try to escape, there. WILL. BE. CONSEQUENCES. This isn’t a vacation you’re having Mr. Barton, this is the alternative to you being locked up in a security facility with no other privilege for you than wearing a cheap orange suit”

Tony was impressed, the woman seemed to be a though cookie, he just hoped she had an infinity amount of patience, she would need it with that lot.

Barton just gave her a defiant glare, murmuring something that sounded suspiciously like ‘Bullshit’ under his breath.

“Dude, shut up!” Scott Lang was sitting right next to Barton, and he was glaring daggers at him. “I’m totally fine with this arrangement! I do not intend to serve any more time in a jail! And I certainly don’t want my kid to see me locked up again!! I’d rather she sees me in an Avengers compound than in a stinking cell! I mean, we will be permitted to see our families, right?” He gave a hopeful glance to the liaison officer, who gave him a curt nod.

“Of curse Mr. Lang, you will have visiting time privileges, Mr. Stark has designated a part of the compound for that purpose, so the visitors will not have any contact with your designated holding rooms”

Lang looked surprised and turned to look at Tony. He would get a chance to see Cassie again, and she might even get to meet some of the Avengers, he was sure she would love that. He seemed to make up his mind and spoke again. “That’s all I ask for, thank you”

Tony hadn’t expected that, he nodded with a small ‘no problem’ gesture. Barton thankfully stayed quiet after that, no doubt it hadn’t crossed his mind he could actually see his family gain, and with the added bonus of NOT being in a jail, but rather in a place packed with superheroes. It was a no-brainer which option was the best.

He’d actually been more surprised that the Witch hadn’t been the one to protest, after all, last time she had been confined to the compound she had done quite a ruckus to be let out. Although this time she was not being held for her own protection, but rather for the protection of those around her. He suspected the woman harbored some hope of being able to reestablish a relationship with Vision, since they would have to live so near each other. He honestly couldn’t understand her obsession with the later; perhaps the mind stone, which had given her her powers, beckoned her in some way to the Android.

“I just don’t understand how come you don’t have to serve any time, Stark” came Wanda’s sullen reproach.

Oh, and there it was, thought Tony, already feeling a headache coming his way.

“Mr. Stark, you do not have to answer to any of those comments…” came Ms. Gray’s answer, at the same time that Rhodey intervened with a “Tony, don’t fall for it…”

With a shit eating grin, Tony focused his attention on the Witch. He would, under no circumstances, let her, or anyone else for that matter, try to imply that he had gotten off easily from all the fuck ups the Avengers had done.

“No, no, it’s ok, I’d much rather we get all this out in the open, so there won’t be any misunderstandings”

Rhodey KNEW things were about to get messy, he recognized Tony’s expression, that mad glint the other man got in its eye whenever he was at his wit’s end.

“First of all, newsflash princess, I WAS tried for the Accords fiasco, and guess what? I was found innocent of any charges held against me. But let’s go a bit back before that, shall we? Ultron? Sokovia? Tried for those too, and guess what, innocent again. But hey, you don’t have to take my word for it, check the trial transcriptions, they are of public domain”

Wanda left out an annoyed huff “You’re not innocent Stark”

“Oh, but then again, neither are you honey”

Several voices cut him off at the same time, from Romanoff’s disapproving ‘Tony’ to Sam’s muttered swearing. Steve seemed to be physically restraining himself to not leap up in Wanda’s defense, but Tony could tell he was just barely managing. The woman simply seemed stunned, not expecting a direct rebuttal.

Tony kept talking, not really caring for the others protests. “Maximoff, you willingly worked for HYDRA, you coerced and manipulated me, your involvement directly resulted in the creation of ULTRON, it was YOUR fucking manipulation that got me to work with the scepter, the mind stone, in the first place”

“Stark, you where the one that…”

With a loud thud, Tony planted his fist on the large meeting table, overriding her. “NO, Wanda, it was YOU, you planted that idea inside my head, that I HAD TO DO MORE to save the earth, and I did it, so don’t you fucking dare try to deny your involvement”

A grave silence fell around the room. Everyone too surprised by Tony’s outburst. He usually kept his cool, even in the most heated of arguments, but Rhodey could see it in Tony’s expression, the man was fed up with this people, and he would finally let them all have a piece of his mind.

“Yet no one blamed you, did they? They welcomed you with open arms to the Avengers, the girl that wanted Stark dead, but sure, why not, welcome aboard right? Even I welcomed you, because I had to atone for everything, like always” as he was saying this, Tony looked at the ex-vengers in the eye, each of them averting their gaze from his.

“And once again, you fucked up in Lagos, you killed and maimed hundredths of people, woman. Once again, YOUR actions were a direct trigger for the Accords, but, did anyone say anything? Why would they? You’re just a kid, right? You didn’t have a fucking clue what you were doing. Even I bought that horseshit. You have no idea how many fucking favors I had to cash in to fucking protect you when you came back to the states. A fucking squad was already waiting for you the moment you set foot in American soil to deport you, did you know that? For god’s sake, you were staying comfortably in your own home while we were trying to solve your fucking mess, and yet you had the AUDACITY to feel betrayed, because someone DARED to try and make you responsible for your actions. But please, by all means, make ME the villain, like you so often like to do”

Wanda looked livid, a red tint glowing in her eyes.

Just then Rhodey stepped in front of Tony, one hand on his waist, no doubt ready to take out his issued gun if he needed to. Steve seemed to have noticed Wanda’s reaction as well, since he had planted a firm hand on her shoulder.

The tense moment was broken by the liaison officer, who seemed to have had enough of this charade. With a firm voice, she addressed the whole room.

“That is enough! Ms. Maximoff, if you even try to harm Mr. Stark you can damn well be sure you will be locked up and striped of your powers, consider this your only warning. Furthermore, shall you, in any way, harm any of your teammates or personnel of this compound, you WILL be tried for breaking your probation”

An uproar of complains filled the room, but the woman cut them all short.

“Silence! Mr. Stark, I see the council’s adamant demands that you be involved in this matter were a mistake” Tony simply gave her a ‘told you’ glance. “I shall take this up to the council, but my recommendation will undoubtably be of your removal from this parole panel. In the future please refrain from engaging in any provocations Mr. Stark”

Tony nodded stiffly his understanding. He HAD insisted that it wasn’t a good idea to have him involved with the ex-vengers transition to the new team, but when did anyone listen to him?

The meeting had been adjourned shortly after that. In the meantime, War Machine had been provisionally appointed the intermediary between Ms. Gray and the avengers. Tony was incredibly grateful for his platypus intervention, at least that way he wouldn’t have to deal with Rogers and company for the time being.

“I’d like to remind you all that you will be monitored at all times while you are in the compound, you have restricted access to the common areas, so I would not recommend trying to venture into any of them from now on. Thank you for your time, if you have any questions, you can contact Ms. Gray and a representative of the council will gladly assist you”

With those final words, Tony gestured for Ms. Gray to follow him, and alongside with Rhodey they left the room.

That had been exhausting, but Tony was glad it was over, at least for now. He was sure the rouges would sooner or later pester him with their recriminations, but he would deal with that when the time came. Right now, though, there was something infinitely more pleasing waiting for him on the main hall.

“How did it go?” Stephen was waiting for him with a concerned face.

Tony bid his farewell to Rhodey and Ms. Gray, and turned to take a walk with the doctor.

“Well, I guess it went better than expected, there was no bloodshed, so I count that as a win”

Stephen let out an amused huff. He’d been worrying about the meeting, fearing what Tony would have to go through facing the ex-vengers again. But the man seemed quite at ease, so he decided not to worry about it for now. He’d promised himself he’d do anything in his power to aid Tony, and in his book that included protecting him against anyone that might try to hurt him, namely his ex-teammates.

After a while they decided to head back into the main building and join the rest of the team.

It seemed they had decided to throw an impromptu pool party, with Peter handing snacks around, Danny and Luke having a splashing competition, Matt and Vision deep in conversation floating on the other end of the pool, and Jessica, Carol and Rhodey sitting at the edge of the pool, enjoying the show. Tony gave Stephen a playful wink, nodding to the group. “What do you say doctor, fancy a bit of a swim?”

Stephen couldn’t suppress a grin, he wouldn’t mind joining Tony at all, and perhaps he could even steal a bit of alone time with the man once the others left the pool.


	5. Asking the right questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter seemed unable to keep to himself whatever was on his mind any longer. “AreyoubyanychancedatingMrStrange?” he let out in one long sentence.
> 
> Tony took a few moments to decipher what Peter had just blurted out, did the kid just ask him if he was dating Stephen Strange?
> 
> Or
> 
> Peter asks Tony some rather interesting questions.

Tony could hear the loud voices coming from Rhodey’soffice. It appeared that Rogers had decided to take some complaint to his poor platypus, but if he were totally honest with himself, he was glad it wasn’t him having to deal with the man.

He really didn’t want Steve to see him, no doubt he’d want to drag Tony into whatever the man felt he needed to complain about, but he needed to drop off a couple of papers on Rhodey’s office. He briefly considered going back and wait for the soldier to leave, but he really didn’t have a lot of time, he had a meeting in less than 10 minutes, and he didn’t want to have to keep going around Rogers any longer, there was no point to it, the man lived in the compound now, he was going to have to get used to seeing him sooner or later. He decided to drop by Rhode’s office, leave the papers and leave. With that plan in mind, he headed towards the loud voices down the hall. As he got nearer, he could make out part of the conversation.

“Rogers, we can’t simply stop the program because you don’t like doctors coming near Barnes”

“It’s not that James, but you know what happened last time a doctor tried to mess with Bucky’s mind, Zemo…”

“Steve, Zemo was out to get his revenge on us all, these doctors are trying to help Barnes, there’s a big difference, and the fact that you don’t see that...”

Both men fell silent when Tony entered the room.

“Sorry to interrupt honey bear, here are the documents you needed. I’m heading down to the meeting room, you coming?

Rhodey seemed glad by the interruption. He gave Tony a stiff nod. “Yeah, thanks, I’ll be right over, please tell the others to wait for me, I won’t be long”

Tony nodded and turned to leave without acknowledging Rogers.

“Tony, wait! Bucky doesn’t…”

Rhodey interrupted Steve, giving him a hard glare.

“Steve, you know Tony has no say over this matter, I’m the…”

Tony didn’t even stop to hear what Steve had to say. He decided he wouldn’t waste any second longer on the man from now on.

 

* * *

 

 

“We still need to decide who will travel to meet the ambassador of Nepal next week. Stephen has already volunteered, he says he has connections with the locals, and it might help thigs go smoother”

“I’ll go” Tony quickly volunteered, ungluing his eyes from his StarkPad.

Carol, Tony and Rhodey were finishing up with their conference. Carol smiled at him, Tony had shown no real interest in the meeting up until that point. She knew he was paying attention, she had learned very early on that Tony was always listening, even when he didn’t seem like it. The man could hold two different conversations at the same time without losing any detail on either, his mind was something else entirely. But his rather enthusiastic reply came as a relief, there really weren’t that many people they could spare for a diplomatic mission, and Tony’s volunteering made her life easier.

Rhodey gave Tony a knowing glance, the other man simply shrugged his shoulders.

“What? I’m good doing diplomatic stuff”

Rhodey had noticed Tony’s interest in Stephen. He knew it was something mutual, but at least both men seemed to be taking things slowly at the moment. As one of Tony’s oldest friends, he really didn’t want to see him suffer any more heartbreaks, at least not so recently after Pepper. He knew both his friends were adults, and they had treated their break up with good grace, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t suffered. Tony really deserved a shot at happiness for once in his life. Although he had to admit that Tony at least seemed happy teasing the good doctor.

With that last point done with, Carol called off the meeting.

“So, is Rogers giving you a hard time? Anything I need to worry about?” Tony and Rhodey took their things and exited the room, both walking back to the third level where their offices stood.

Sighting deeply, Rhodey waited for the elevator doors to open “The guy just won’t give it a break. He’s complaining about Barnes treatment AGAIN. He thinks someone will try to reactivate the Winter Soldier during those sessions. He keeps asking for Barnes’ relocation to Wakanda”

“Still?” Tony shouldn’t be surprised by Roger’s pigheadedness, but he couldn’t believe the man couldn’t get a hint. Wakanda wanted nothing to do with them any longer. It had been one of the main reasons why they had giving themselves up in the first place. No matter how many promises the king had made them, Wakanda was going through some massive and difficult changes, what with opening themselves to the outside world. Many were not happy with T’Challa’s decisions, and even less with giving asylum to a bunch of superhero fugitives when most of the world’s countries were out for their blood. The pressure the many governments had lobbied over the King had finally been too much, and since the Wakanda’s doctors couldn’t (or wouldn’t, Tony wasn’t sure) treat the soldier, his stay in that country was rapidly becoming a national threat. T’Challahad apologized to Barnes, only to promptly kick the man out of Wakanda. That had been a less than smooth move, but it had taken care of the problem for the king, because anywhere Barnes went, Steve followed.

James Barnes’ treatment had been another point the Accords had been adamant on, and a sore spot for Tony. They had seemed to finally accept the theory that the man had been brainwashed, and that he needed psychological help to get rid of the HYDRA conditioning. And hadn’t that been another blow for Tony, because the council had DEMANDED his help. The BARF system seemed to be a good way to treat the soldier, but it should’ve been an option for Tony to choose if he wanted to help the man or not. He shouldn’t have been forced to give his technology to anyone.

For his own mental health, Tony had decided to delegate the responsibility of said treatment to Dr. Helen Cho. Tony and Dr. Cho had been working close together even after theevents of Ultron, she was a brilliant woman, and Tony had come to trust and appreciate her.

“Well, good luck with that buttercup, you’re going to need it”

Rhodey just let out an amused huff, he was really getting tired of the captain’s bullshit, he’d have to do something about it sooner or later.

“Remember what Carol said the first time we warned her about Rogers?” Tony suddenly asked, an amused grin on his face.

“’We’re talking about Captain America! Surely, he can’t be that pigheaded’, boy, was she in for a surprise!”

They both laughed at the memory, Danvers had given the benefit of the doubt to the rogues, going in fresh, with no preconceptions and no judgement for them. That had quickly changed over the few weeks she had to work with the lot. She’d come to Tony for advice, telling him she respected him now even more, knowing what Tony had had to put up with during all those years. He’d just been amused, and frankly, totally relieved that at least it wasn’t him dealing with the lot any longer.

 

* * *

 

It had been a quiet day. Peter and Tony were working together on some new designs for the spider-man suit. Peter had come up with some rather interesting suggestions for his suit, and Tony was more than happy to sit down with him and go over them. They’d been working amiably all afternoon, until Peter asked something out of the blue.

“Hey Mr. Stark?”

“Kid watch your soldering, you don’t want that to fall apart when you’re high up in the sky” Tony told him without looking up, he was concentrated on finishing up his schematics.

“Oh, yeah, right, sorry” Peter quickly turn back to the welding gun, he had accidentally melted one of the small wires that he was using for his suit.

“So, what you wanted to ask kid?”

After a brief pause, Peter seemed unable to keep to himself whatever was on his mind any longer. “AreyoubyanychancedatingMrStrange?” he let out in one long sentence.

Tony took a few moments to decipher what Peter had just blurted out, did the kid just ask him if he was dating Stephen Strange?

He tried not to laugh out loud, he usually hated discussing personal matters, even with his closest friends, but the kid seemed genuinely intrigued.

“And what makes you think I’m dating the Doctor kiddo?”

Peter seemed to sense he might have been out of the line with his question “I'm sorry! I didn't mean to pry...”

“No, it's ok kid, but now you've got me intrigued, what made you ask in the first place?” Tony told him with a placating hand, whisking away the holographic displays he’d been working with.

“I... well, you're both flirting all the time…”

“Kid, I flirt with most people all the time” he deadpanned.

“I... wait what? Mr. Stark, too much information!!” Peter let out with a yelp, he really hadn’t expected that answer.

“Well kid, you're the one who asked!” Tony couldn’t keep a straight face; the kid was just too easy to mess with.

Peter stayed silent for a minute, seemingly deep in thought. Tony called back his designs, Peter had come up with an interesting take on the suits’ lenses, and that had given him an idea he wanted to implement, but he still needed to hash out the specifics.

Peter watched Tony work. It was always a humbling experience to see Mr. Stark inside the lab, it was as if the tools where an extension of his hands, he didn’t have to look up from whatever he was doing to command over different displays and holograms, it was as if his computer could read his mind. Almost like him and his machines where one. Deciding to follow his previous line of questioning, Peter spoke out loud.

“I mean, I really like Mr. Strange”

Huh? oh right, Peter was asking him about his love life, how fun. “You like him? how so kid?”

“He's pretty cool, and you're always smiling whenever he's around, you two seem to get along pretty well you know?”

“That's what you think? if you haven't noticed, we both fight most of the time” Tony was rather surprised at how perceptive the kid was. He HAD been flirting nonstop with the sorcerer, whom, by the way, seemed to enjoy it just as much as he did, but he hadn't really made anything out of it, after all, he DID tend to flirt with almost everyone as a second nature to him.

“Well, yeah, but Mr. Strange gets this look whenever he talks to you… with everybody else he's just always serios, except with Rogers, he always has a deep scowl whenever he has to talk to him”

Tony didn't miss the way Peter referred to the Cap, the kid was usually very laidback about the other Avengers, he might have to ask Peter about it later.

“And that makes you think we're dating?”

“Well, I... I don't know, I just thought... never mind...” Peter finished awkwardly, perhaps he had imagined things. But he’d been so sure. Mr. Stark always looked happier whenever Dr. Strange was around.

“Ok, kiddo, whatever you say, but rest assured, if my single status ever changes, you'll be the first to know” Tony couldn't help himself, he loved being a sarcastic ass.

“Ha-ha, so funny Mr. Stark”

“I'm serious! if I ever start dating Mr. Wizard I'll tell you”

Peter didn't reply, but his content face made Tony feel warm. It was a nice feeling having someone worry about him the way Peter did, it really made him feel like the kid was his own.

A couple of minutes went by in companionable silence, until Peter, utterly bewildered, spat “Hey!!! Is that what you were doing to aunt May when we first met? You where flirting with her??!!!”

“Jesus Christ kid, enough!!” Tony couldn't help but laugh at the poor kid's horrified face.


	6. Hunting down big foot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Fuck, he’s gorgeous...” Tony let out in a murmur. The cloak seemed to give him a puzzled look that made him laugh out loud.
> 
> Or
> 
> Tony and Stephen embark on a mission, but things don’t go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *warning, the chapter contains mention of mild gore and blood*

The humid cavern had a suffocating atmosphere. The echoes of falling droplets of water, and what sounded suspiciously like far away cries and laments filled the place. Mordo could sense an evil presence in the cavern, it’s overwhelming force muddled his mind.

For months he had sought a way to bring balance to the world. With the Ancient One’s death, he had learnt the true nature of what he had once thought as the ‘right path’, he had finally opened his eyes to what had been right before his eyes all this time, what he had been too weak to realize, that Kamar-Taj was nothing but an aberration, a place that thought it’s zealots to break the natural course of things, and it’s leader, the sorcerer supreme, was the sole responsible for making the world astray, breaking the natural laws on a whim, bringing unbalance to the forces that may be.

  
Long ago, he had read about an old type of magic, so powerful that it was dreaded even by the most powerful of magic wielders, something that could help him bring the equilibrium the world so desperately needed. He had devoted all his might to finding the forbidden texts that depicted a way to harness that magic, and he had finally found it.  
With each step he took, the echoes became louder, they seemed to emanate from the old book resting on the far end of the cave. With a feverish expression he advanced towards the book, the echoes now a loud wail inside his head, a voice biding him forward, promising him power beyond his wildest dreams.

 

* * *

 

As it was becoming custom amongst the newest countries that joined the Accords, the Avengers were invited by a representative of each one as a gesture of goodwill, both parts trying to show their willingness to collaborate with each other and to stablish joint agreements.

As such, the request made by the ambassador of Nepal for the Avengers to visit the small country came as no surprise. Stephen had volunteered for this particular mission, what with his knowledge of the place and its people. Tony had hopped along as a goodwill emissary, but if he were honest with himself, he just wanted to spend some time with the doctor, he even harbored some hope that he could convince him to take him to Kamar-Taj, the place where Strange had learnt all his mystical powers from.

It was common knowledge that Tony wasn’t very keen on magic, what with his bad experiences with it over the years, but watching the incredible things Stephen was capable of gave him a thrill, there was no other way to describe it. It sparked in him a childlike wonder - he loved knowing how things worked, always had, and magic was no different in that way to him, as Thor had so eloquently told him once (and Tony suspected he had stolen his explanation from someone else), ‘magic is just science that mortals don’t understand yet’.

Stephen stood waiting at the side of the private landing strip. Tony had been attending a business meeting in Hong Kong and had made the 4-hour flight to Nepal in one of his private jets. As soon as it stopped, Tony stepped down from the plane; he was wearing a midnight blue business suit with a white shirt and golden sunglasses. Stephen took a moment to admire the man, there was no denying that Anthony Stark knew how to dress to impress, and he’d definitely been impressed with Tony for quite a while now.

Tony gave the Doctor a bright smile, the man was wearing a merlot colored sweater over a blue dress shirt with some khaki pants. It was always such a treat to see the doctor in casual garbs, in Tony’s opinion, it made him look so much more humane than his usual wizarding attire.

“How was the flight?” Stephen asked, offering to take one of Tony’s bags.

“Boring and uneventful, so overall good” Came his easy reply. They both walked towards the black car that was waiting for them. Once inside, Stephen told Tony all he needed to know about the current political and social situation of the country while they were headed to their hotel, for his part, Tony told him about a couple of points they needed to discuss with the ambassador; they would be meeting with the man in a couple of hours, and they needed to prepare for the meeting. Once in the hotel they decided to have some lunch together, were they finally settled on some pleasant conversation, basking in the warm feeling of their ever-growing familiarity.

 

* * *

  
The meeting with the ambassador had been rather successful, with Stephen’s intervention and Tony’s smooth talk, the willfulness to work together had been apparent from both parties. It seemed they would be able to extend further alliances with no foreseeable problems.

Unexpectedly, the ambassador had also requested for both superheroes’ help. For years, the legend of a mythical creature that inhabited the skirts of the Himalayas had plagued the local’s old wives tales, but over the course of the last few months, a constant stream of reports of missing persons and the sighting of a so-called monster on the scene had overwhelmed the local authorities, who had searched the area and had found some evidence of what appeared to be a very large animal with an uncanny strength.

“We would be very grateful for your assistance with this situation Mr. Stark, Mr. Strange, we have found ourselves at a loss as to what might be causing these disappearances” Ambassador Shrestha, a short and amiable man, asked hurriedly as he showed Tony and Stephen some photography’s and reports from the area. Most of them showed some rather gruesome scenes of destroyed villages.

Sensing the ambassador’s distress, they saw no other option but to relent to the man’s request. They decided to alert Carol of the situation, informing her they would investigate the area for any troubles.

 

* * *

  
“So, a monster in the heart of the mountains, it has to be big foot, right?” Tony asked sarcastically. He was not one to believe in mythical creatures, but he was standing next to a Wizard with a sentient cape in an old monastery known for its magical inhabitants, so who was he to judge?

“Yeti”

“What?”

“It’s called a Yeti or a ‘Jioug’ in this part of the world, big foot is what it’s called in America”

“Oh, right, thanks for the clarification doctor. So, this thing’s real? Who would’ve thought!”

“Well, there are numerous recordings of mythical creatures in our ancient texts that might adjust to the description ambassador Shrestha gave us, so we shouldn’t discard that possibility just yet”

They had decided to stay in Kamar-Taj for the time being, the Langtang National Park, where the disappearances had occurred, was located nearby the hidden monastery. Stephen had opened a portal right into one of the abbey’s chambers, an old and rustic looking place. An aura of tranquility surrounded the room, and the expression ‘old as time’ came to Tony’s mind. Of course, a plethora of inappropriate things also came to Tony’s mind once he deduced that the master bedroom they had just stepped into was the Sorcerer Supremes’ own chambers. The place didn’t seem to have been lived in in quite a while, but he could make out a couple of Stephen’s belongings scattered in the room.

Oblivious to Tony’s curious glances, Stephen took off his cloak and motioned for it to go and rest in one of the room’s racks; the cloak went obediently, resting itself above the master bed. The room had a pair of armchairs and a low table in what seemed like a small lounge.

Stephen turned to sit on one of them, gesturing for Tony to sit on the other. Following suit, Tony lowered his laptop on the table. He had decided to use one of his satellites to take some georeferenced photos of the area, so FRIDAY could collect the missing people reports and the locations where the presumed sightings had been made and see if there was any correlation between the two, that way they could narrow down the search area for the missing people or, in the worst case scenario, find a mythical monster in the middle of the woods.

“Almost one hundred people missing in the last six months. No wonder the ambassador seemed so desperate” Tony had been going over the reports, trying to sort them out so FRIDAY could assess them. “You know, this whole cryptid business sucks, but at least I finally got to visit this place” he let out with a small grin.

“Really? I wouldn’t have thought you interested in the mystical arts” Stephen put down the text he had been consulting, a skeptical look on his face.

“Well, I’m not planning on getting a magic wand anytime soon, but I’d like to understand some of its principles, it really drives me nuts not knowing how it all works” he said with a small and unconscious pout. As much as he resisted against the idea of magic, its irrefutable presence in the world made him realize he couldn’t shy away from it.

Stephen found the man’s pout unbelievably endearing “Well, in that case, would you like to take a tour of the place?” he asked, genuinely intrigued by Tony’s sudden confession. He knew just how much Tony despised magic, it was one of the things they constantly bantered about.

“I was afraid you’d never ask” Tony replied with a teasing grin.

Stephen opened the door and stepped into an antique looking hallway. He showed Tony around, from the library where the occult texts laid, to the training grounds with an impressive look over the Himalayas, where the monasteries’ students where practicing several martial arts and combat stances.

“And here I thought you wizards were pacifists” Tony mused out loud, watching the impressive feats some of the acolytes were doing.

“We are, but our beliefs are based in the principle of attaining true balance between mind and body” Stephen quietly explained. It had taken him a lot of effort to achieve this balance. Being aman of books meant he had paid no real attention to his physique beyond that of staying in good shape. Tony gave him an appreciative look, it was evident the doctor filled his wizard’s robes quite nicely. Stephen saw the look the other man gave him, and couldn’t help puffing up his chest a bit, it was quite the confidence booster realizing Tony Stark was checking him out.

By the time they were back at Stephen’s chambers, FRIDAY had some results ready for them. It seemed like the greatest number of sightings and disappearances had occurred in a defined zone. That helped them reduce their search area to a couple of kilometers. With that information on hand, they decided to leave immediately.

 

* * *

  
  
Iron man and Dr. Strange soared the skies towards the area FRIDAY had identified. They decided to split and scout the place to cover terrain faster, with Stephen focusing his attention on land.

They were in a wooded area, the thick trees covering much of the daylight. After a couple of minutes of search, Stephen discovered some animal tracks, and he deduced they must have belonged to an incredibly large animal, because the footprints were enormous, it was like nothing he’d ever seen.

“Tony, I think I found something, it might be the creature we’re looking for” Stephen told Tony through his communicator.

“Copy that Doctor, I’m on my way, stay put”

Tony located Stephen easily, and landed right beside him on a small clearing.

“That’s one ginormous foot! I doubt it belongs to any animal from the region” Tony kneeled to analyze the footprints, they seemed to have been made by humanoid feet with some enormous claws at the end of it.

“Indeed, I doubt a common animal, or a human being could make these. The track ends just down that path, but we could see where it came from, it might lead us to some answers” Stephen pointed up the mountain, where the creature had apparently come from.

They went over the area, and with FRIDAYS help they discovered that the track lead to a hidden building among the mountains’ top.

It was an old and abandoned looking fortress, the structure emitted an eerie feeling to it, an unnatural silence and a thick mist enclosing the place. It was surrounded by a perimeter fence with its main gates torn down. A huge gaping hole was visible on the northern side of the building.

Tony and Stephen approached the structure; an overwhelming feeling of being watched making the hairs on their necks stand on end.

“I have a bad feeling about this doc, FRIDAY has found no information on this place. But by the looks of it, it served as some sort of military facility”

Stephen move toward the entrance and discovered several dead bodies scattered around the floor. The remains of the one closest to him seemed to have been torn in half by an extraordinary force.

“Do you think...” Stephen asked, unsure if he should finish his sentence.

“The Hulk? Yeah, it crossed my mind, but the green bean emits a certain gamma ray radiation, and so far, I haven’t been able to detect it in the area” said Tony with a grimace. The bodies were almost completely decomposed, not a pretty sight at all.

They ventured inside the compound, the violence and destruction that took place inside it still visible in the ruins of the place.

“FRIDAY, you recording all this girl?”

“Affirmative boss, I’m also doing an air toxicity analysis in case a biochemical agent was used in the building”

“Good thinking FRY. Tell me if you find anything”

Tony found a half-closed metal door that seemed to lead to a laboratory. The place was pitch- black, there seemed to be no power on the building with Iron man’s reactor the only light in the place. With the help of the suit’s strength, Tony pried open the door. The smell of death and the suffocating atmosphere of the lab were making Stephen dizzy, the place had obviously been abandoned for a long time.

Tony walked further into the lab, dried blood and human remains scattered on its floor. The suit’s night vision helped him make out what appeared to be some stasis chambers, a deep chill running down his spine. It was quite evident that some sort of genetic experiment had been done there, and whatever it was they had created had escaped, destroying everything on its way out.

“This is some resident evil shit going on here, I’m officially freaked out” said Tony, trying to restrain the disgust in his voice.

“I’m making the call Stephen, let’s get out of here, I think we have all we need to let the authorities know what’s been going on with the missing locals”

“You don’t mean...” asked Stephen, as they turned for the main entrance once again.

“Yes, human experimentation, and lots of it by the looks of it”

They traced back their steps, Tony feeling the hairs on his neck standing on end. Thanks to the suit he’d been able to see in detail the horrors that had been going on inside that lab, he was just glad Stephen hadn’t seen beyond the entrance. He was definitely going to have nightmares with this place.

He could make out the light coming from the destroyed wall, and he finally felt a bit better, it would’ve been hell being trapped inside the building with whatever had killed all those people so effortlessly.

“We have to find whatever escaped from that lab” came Stephen’s clipped voice.

Tony agreed. They couldn’t leave without finding what had caused all that destruction “We should look around the area, the creature might still be around”

 

* * *

 

As they descended the mountain, the trees became denser. The sensors in the Iron Man suit could only scan so much, and without a specific signal to trace, the work was proving to be taxing.

They decided to take a quick rest on a clearing near a river stream. They sat atop a large boulder that protruded above the creek. Tony was seriously considering suggesting they came back the next day, he wouldn’t have any troubles searching the woods with no sunlight, be he refused to put Stephen through that.

Stephen seemed unnaturally quiet, and it took Tony a moment to realize the man was meditating. He opened the suits faceplate and was about to ask Stephen if everything was alright when a sudden gasp escaped the man’s lips, Stephen snapped his eyes open and looked directly at Tony.

“Wow doc! is everything ok?”

Stephen seemed to come to his senses, a weary expression on his face “I’ve been feeling a disturbance in the earth’s energy field, and I decided to use my astral projection to check up on it. There’s something wrong, Wong also came to me, I’m sorry Tony I have to go”

Taken aback, Tony was about to tell the doctor that it was ok, that he could make his own way back, when Stephen sat down once again, getting ready to meditate.

“Woah, woah, doctor, you’re just gonna float away and leave your body here? What if something happens?”

“I’m sorry, but there’s no time Tony” Looking at Tony’s baffled expression, he added “Don’t worry, the cloak will know what to do, besides, I trust you” He told him before closing his eyes and staying utterly still.

“I... what’s that supposed to mean? Come back! Can I move your body while you’re astral projecting?” Tony shouted, looking between Stephen and the sky where he supposed Stephen was floating around.

“Goddamnit, FRIDAY, remind me to start a ‘guide on how to take care of your wizard’, first entry, find out what the fuck happens while they astral project” Tony told FRIDAY sarcastically. Oh, he was going to kill that man when he came back.

 

* * *

 

 

Stephen had been having a bad feeling all day long. As the Sorcerer Supreme, he had developed a sensibility to the constantly shifting energies of earth, and he could tell something was wrong. The moment his aura left his body, he detected there was a disturbance in the earth’s mystical forces. A familiar presence materialized near him, it was Wong, and by the somber look of his face, things were not good.

“Strange, there’s an emergency, it’s Mordo, we must go, now!”

“Wong!” They had not heard from Mordo for a couple of months now. The man had attacked a couple of wizards, stripping them of their powers, claiming to be seeking to restore the balance that the wizards and their ‘unnatural ways’ had broken. The man had then disappeared after those initial attacks, they had done everything in their power to look for him to no avail.

With a sharp nod, Stephen acknowledged Wong’s warning “Alright, let’s go, just give me a minute to let Tony know”  
Wong gave him an exasperated look.

“There is no time Strange, time is running out”

“I’m wasting more time discussing with you Wong, I’ll let Tony know and then we’ll take our leave” He paid no mind to Wong’s reply, coming back into his body. He quickly explained the situation to a bewildered looking Tony, promising to come back as quickly as possible. He felt bad for leaving him like that, but if Wong was correct, there was an imminent danger and they couldn’t waste any more time.

Wong transported their astral projection to a different astral plane. It was a place between dimensions, where the fabric of reality met with the mystical energy that protected earth from outer dimensional threats. As soon as they materialized, they could sense a shift in the protective force that encased the earth.

“Chaos magic” said Wong’s worriedly “It seems like something or someone has been gathering the chaos magic that is harbored in this dimension”

Stephen could see the ripples of the chaos energy pulsing trough the barrier between dimensions. The old texts Stephen had seen at Kamar-Taj depicted the chaos energy as one of the most destructive forces in the universe, this sort of magic could be used to reconstruct and manipulate the very existence and reality to its user’s whims.

“This is affecting the balance between the dimensions, we have to stop whatever is causing this disturbance”

Stephen urged Wong, as they both decided to look for the origin of the disturbance.

As they got closer to the point where the chaos energy was congregating, they saw a lone figure that seemed to be chanting a spell in an ancient language. Stephen recognized him immediately.

“Mordo! Stop this nonsense, you have no idea what you’re dealing with!!” Stephen floated closer to the man, from this distance they could make out his features, he was holding a large volume of antique texts, an incredibly dark energy emanating from them. Mordo took his eyes away from the texts, never stopping his chanting. He seemed possessed by an evil force, his features contracted in a horrific grimace, his eyes a white pool of energy.

Behind Mordo, the gathered chaos energy was beginning to form a portal, and a dark being was visible just beyond the gateway. Stephen’s worst suspicions were proven correct, Mordo was using the chaos energy to invoke Chthon, a demonic force that feed off dark & chaos magic.

According to the magic texts he had read, Chthon was a being of unimaginable powers that could manipulate every aspect of reality, he could even bring about the destruction of the cosmos with its powers.

“Wong, we must stop Mordo at all cost, we cannot let him complete the summoning ritual, the faith of earth depends on it” Stephen said as he summoned his magic, getting ready for battle.

Nodding solemnly, Wong took a fighting stand “Understood”

 

* * *

 

 

“So, cloak, should I call you cloak or... this is great, I’m trying to start a conversation with a piece of cloth” Tony exasperatedly rubbed his hands through his hair.

He had retracted the suit and was sitting down across from Stephen. The cloak gave him a bored glance. Tony was impressed, for an object with no face, the cloak could convey a wide array of expressions quite convincingly.

“So, what happens if Stephen gets hungry? What if he has to go to the bathroom?” The cloak merely ignored Tony’s incessant chatter, deciding to wrap its long ends a little bit tighter around Stephen’s rigid frame.

Tony decided to sit back and relax, there was nothing much he could do, he didn’t want to touch Stephen in case he disturbed him while he was away saving the earth from whatever mythical apocalypse he was facing, and he definitely didn’t feel comfortable leaving the wizard behind. So, he occupied his time in the most efficient way he could think of, he committed Stephen’s face to memory, admiring the man’s frankly striking features. He rarely got an opportunity to stare at the man all he wanted, satiating his thirst for the other’s presence. He’d been trying his best to restrain his lust for the man, but it was getting exponentially harder as time went by. He knew he was playing a dangerous game with Stephen, he was a step away from falling head over heels for him. But Tony also knew he was a fucking mess, he was starting to rebuild so many aspects of his life, his sense of being, his company, the avengers, making new friends, and perhaps finally getting the family he so badly craved for. He was frankly terrified of screwing this up, afraid of letting his true feelings known, and at the same time petrified that Stephen would reciprocate them. He had already screwed up his chances with Pepper, he had no intentions of making the same mistakes over again.

The sun was starting to set low, and it reflected against the wizard’s face, encasing it in a warm glow. Tony had never seen anything more beautiful.

“Fuck, he’s gorgeous...” Tony let out in a murmur. The cloak seemed to give him a puzzled look that made him laugh out loud.

“Sorry, I was just admiring your master” Tony offered with a self-deprecating smile. He wondered if the cloak would rattle on him if he declared his love for Stephen out loud.  
  
A sudden sound behind him made him turn around quickly, deploying the suit around him in an instant. The hairs on the back of his neck standing on end once again, he had the same overwhelming feeling of being watched he had felt back at the abandoned lab.

“FRY, scan the area, I feel like we might have some company”

“Affirmative boss, a large heat signature is positioned a couple of meters behind the trees, it seems to be moving around your position in a hunting pattern”

“Fuck...that’s just great” He gave Stephen a preoccupied look, he didn’t want to have a confrontation with whatever that thing was, especially since Stephen was in no condition to fight.

He had to do something, FRIDAY’s sensors indicated the thing was getting steadily closer. He decided to shoot a repulsor blast as a warning, perhaps whatever creature was lurking around might get the hint and run away. He aimed high, the repulsor’s force echoing in the deserted forest... And it seemed to be exactly the wrong thing to do, because Tony heard a boisterous growl and a loud thudding as the creature decided to charge his way. He could hear a deafening crash as the creature seemed to be plowing down the trees in front of it.

With a worried expression, he turned around to speak directly to the cloak “Please try to keep your master safe, I’ll do my best to keep you both out of harms way” and with that he took to the air, deciding to confront the creature head on.

“FRIDAY, get the stunners ready, I’ll try to... oh shhiiiiiitt!!!” He couldn’t finish his sentence, a two- meter-long creature blasted out of the woods, it had made a clean jump to the armors level, an enormous claw aiming at Tony’s face in an instant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave you all with a cliffhanger, I honestly didn’t expect this chapter to turn out so long.


	7. Someone’s waiting for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For centuries he had been dormant, exiled and imprisoned in another dimension. But soon, he would be once again free from his chains.
> 
> Or
> 
> Stephen and Tony are each faced with formidable foes, and not all seems to be lost.

For centuries he had been dormant, exiled and imprisoned in another dimension. But the call had finally reached him. A human, summoning him, stirring him from his deep slumber. Soon, he would be once again free from his chains. The ritual was almost completed, he could taste the fear and horror from the weak human. The stupid man had tried to harness the ancient powers that kept him chained to the eternal darkness, using the Darkhold, but it had been too much for him. It had been easy breaking his spirit, just a matter of ensnaring him with promises of power and riches, and he had succumbed, like so many before him.

The rift between dimensions grew larger by the minute. The dark and chaotic energies emanating from the portal rippling through the magic barrier erected to protect earth.  
Stephen Strange and Wong had been trying to reach Mordo. The man, possessed by the ancient demonic force known as Chthon, was in the process of summoning said demon to this dimension. Part of its dark energy had already managed to cross the portal, creating a field that prevented them from reaching the ex-acolyte.

“The shield is too strong! We have to stop the enchanting” Yelled Wong, he’d been trying all his repertoire to try and get through the force field protecting Mordo. They had to prevent the summoning, but Chthon’s strength was proving to be too much.

“Concentrate, Wong! We must synchronize our attacks, focus our power on a single spell!” Stephen had been analyzing the force field, he was convinced that a combined attack would debilitate the barrier enough to reach Mordo. They were running out of time, he could already see part of the protective force field crumbling under the force of the chaotic energy.

Both sorcerers concentrated their energy into a combined spell, hitting the barrier at the same time. It flickered under the force of the attack, a small rupture indicting they had succeeded.

“Keep going” yelled Stephen, sweat dripping down his brow “We have to shatter the force field!”

Suddenly, an immense rumble could be heard, dark energy coming in streams out of the portal. Chthon had gained enough leverage on this dimension to send forward a hoard of dark demonic creatures. Hundredths of them surged from the dark energy, like a mass of black tar shaping itself into horrifically disfigured humanoid forms.

The legion of demons moved as one, aiming their attacks upon them with an impressive bout of speed.

“Wong, do not break the spell, do you hear me?! Do not lose focus!!” Stephen yelled, the dark mass almost upon them, its many voices a cacophony of bloodcurdling shrieks.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony felt cold sweat running down his face. He was face to face with a creature unlike anything he’d ever see, and considering he’d seen aliens and other genetically modified creatures, it was saying something.

The creature had an uncanny speed, and a force that he was sure could rival that of the Hulk. It looked like a cross between a human and a wolf, it’s animalistic and feral features covered by a thick fur. But it’s face, it was a disfigured mass of fangs and pitch-black eyes, a black ooze coming out of its snout. No wonder the locals were in hysterics, the thing was HUGE, with a little over 2 meters, and over 200 kilos.

It was a thing of nightmares, and it currently had Tony in a chock hold.  
The thing had taking him by surprise, effortlessly making a clean jump of over 3 meters. He had narrowly evaded its claws mid-air, only to have it take hold of one of his boots, dragging him down in an instant. Tony was impressed by its speed, according to FRIDAY, it had a reaction time superior to that of the enhanced humanoids he’d encountered over the years.

The creature unfortunately had landed on top of his back, pressing him against the floor, an iron grip on the suits neck. It was trashing him around, and if not for the reinforced metal Tony had developed for the suit, he would probably have been dead by now. He could feel the thing clawing at him, it hadn’t been able to tear into the suit, but he could feel it denting the armor.  
  
“FRIDAY, engage the electric field, full power!” Tony managed to gasp between blows to his head.

“On it, boss” FRIDAY let a huge electric charge flow through the armor, frying everything on contact. The beast let out an ear-splitting screech, but the electricity only seemed to have made it more frantic. It resumed its relentless attack on the suit, but Tony had managed to turn over, aiming his repulsors right in the beasts’ face.

He fired with everything he had, indicating FRIDAY to use the repulsor’s maximum power. The creature was blasted away a couple of meters, landing with a loud crash across the clearing.

Tony gingerly stood up, the suit had taken some considerable damage, but thankfully a quick diagnosis indicated everything still functioned correctly. He suddenly snapped his eyes towards the creature, it was slowly standing up, a horrible scorch mark covering the upper halve of its body, tissue and fur alike falling from its body like molten wax.

“Shit...FRIDAY, we’re gonna have to use the big guns, but we’ll have to make it follow us, I don’t want Stephen to get caught in the cross-fire” Tony was indicating his AI, when he suddenly heard a heart stopping growl right behind him. Turning around, he saw two other creatures across the stream. Stephen was right between the creatures and him, sitting atop the boulder, cross-legged and deep in his meditation, oblivious to the imminent threat.

 

* * *

 

 

The legion of demons attacked Stephen and Wong with neck breaking speed.

They were half a meter away when Stephen summoned a defensive magic shield. The demons’ struck against the energy wall, their vast number engulfing them quickly. They toppled over one another until Stephen and Wong were buried under their vast number. The weight of the evil legion was almost too much to bear, Stephen was having a hard time splitting his attention between the attack upon Mordo and maintaining the shield defending Wong and himself.

With great effort, he concentrated his strength on conjuring a spell, hundredths of replicas of himself surging forwards. Each replica conjured a couple of crimson bands of energy from their hands, striking down the demons with relentless blows.  
  
His plan worked, the demons started to spread around, lifting their weight from the protective shield Stephen was holding. But some of the creatures were getting a hold of the energy bands, dragging copies of Stephen down, outnumbering the replicas and destroying them with sharp teeth and claws. Every damage done to a replica, Stephen felt like a blow on his own body. He was doing an admirable job of whipping out the demons, but with each one he took down, another one seemed to take its place.

He was rapidly losing his strength, the effort of attacking Mordo, maintaining the defensive shield, on top of keeping hundredths of copies of himself, and the damage done to each one reflected onto his own body were draining his energy rapidly. He had to do something to defeat Chthon, less he lost earth to its demonic forces.

Focusing his attention once again in the barrier protecting Mordor, he could see Wong had made some progress, a fracture now clearly visible on the dark magic.

“Wong, I cannot divert these attacks any longer, I will release the images of Ikkon spell, but you’ll have to hold the shield yourself, understood?”

“What will you do Strange?, we’re almost through the field, we still need to get to Mordo”

“I’ll take care of Mordo, you take care of the shield”

With a nod Wong let the spell attacking the barrier drop, concentrating his strength in maintaining the protective shield Stephen had summoned.

Taking a deep breath, Stephen dispelled his replicas, the demons throwing themselves immediately towards them, clawing and pushing at the shield. Wong almost immediately fell to one knee, the relentless force of the demons forcing him to push with all his might.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony focused all his attention to the two newcomers. He had no intention of letting them come anywhere near Stephen’s meditating form. With slow movements he stepped to the side, making sure to attract the creature’s attention. It worked, as soon as they sensed Tony’s movement they attacked, dashing forward with a bout of speed.

Tony had counted on this, waiting for the last second to activate his thrusters, avoiding by a hair’s breadth the creature’s assaults. Turning around quickly, he blasted both creatures with all the power the suit had. The beasts were thrown by the force of the energy detonations, landing in a heap near the first creature.

“Got you!” Tony said with a triumphant grin, now that he had the three of them grouped, he unleashed a flurry of energy beams, short range missiles and stunners, all he could fire that wouldn’t blast Stephen and himself into smithereens by mistake. The ensuing explosion’s blast forced the suit to take a step back, he could feel the heat even through the armor. The cloak raised its ends protectively over Stephen, shielding him from the explosion’s force.

Suddenly, and as if in slow motion, Tony saw one of the beasts propel itself out of the ball of fire, like a projectile swept into the air, and he could tell the exact moment its focus changed from him to the movement of the cloak, directing its enraged attention to Stephen.

The creature made a clean jump over Tony and onto the boulder.

Tony felt like in a dream, where he wanted to run faster, but his legs would simply not obey. He activated the thrusters at its maximum speed, felt the neck breaking force boosting him forward, and yet he knew it was not enough, he would not make it in time to protect Stephen from the beast.

He’d been an idiot, he should’ve kept firing until those aberrations were nothing but a stain on the ground, he should’ve kept his attention on Stephen, so many recriminations were already on his head that he barely noticed the explosion that blasted the creature off it’s feet and off the boulder all together, it’s hand a blackened mess of charred and melted skin.

A magic force field shimmered around Stephen, glowing in the rapidly darkening sky. Tony had never felt so relieved in his entire life. He should’ve guessed Stephen wouldn’t leave himself unprotected during his meditating sessions, he was the sorcerer supreme after all, and suddenly Tony realized what that truly meant. One of Stephen’s protective spells had almost ripped off the beast’s hand, while it had taken him almost his entire arsenal to subdue the other two.

Giving a great sigh of relief, he turned his attention back to the creature, it had started to twitch, getting ready to get up.

“No you don’t, fucker!” Lowering himself near the beast, he aimed a repulsor to its heart, the resulting blast echoing through the forest. He then approached the remains of the other two, making sure they were down for good.

He examined them closer, he deduced they must’ve had some degree of self-regeneration besides their enhanced strength and speed. They had really given him a run for his money for a moment, he could only imagine what a defenseless mountain villager could do against a creature like this...

He took all the precautions he could think of to ensure the remains of the three creatures were restrained. He knew they were dead, but he was sick of unpleasant surprises. He’d had enough for a day.

“FRIDAY, please contact the local authorities, tell them we found their yetis. There could be more out there, so tell them we’ll help them scout the area to locate them, but right now, all I want is to take Stephen home”

“Understood boss, Captain Carol has also been sending messages asking if you need any backup. I have been updating her on the current developments”

“Tell her to put Wanda on hold, I’m not sure what Stephen is facing, and we might need another magic user for this”

“I’m on it, boss”

With a sigh, he engaged the thrusters, landing next to the oblivious Stephen.

“Cloak, you could’ve told me your master was so crafty” He told the cloak with an exasperated grin. He was beginning to grow fond of the levitating cape. The cloak simply gave him a pleased wiggle of its folds, Tony had the distinct feeling the cloak was amused by the whole thing.

Abruptly, Stephen let out a loud cry, his body going slack, as if he were a puppet and his strings had suddenly been snapped. The cloak twisted to protect Stephen from falling over, while Tony kneeled right beside him to take over the unconscious man’s weight.

“Stephen? Stephen answer me! FRIDAY! Get me his vitals!”

“Vitals are stable, but he seems to be having a neurological collapse... he’s in a coma boss”

 

* * *

 

Stephen and Wong were fighting with every last ounce of strength they had left. Stephen had summoned a sword made out of indestructible fire, using it to pierce trough the dark force field that protected Mordo.

He could feel his hands tremble, they had gone numb a long time ago. The contact of his sword against the dark energy sent rivulets of dark magic into his body, making his muscles spasm with the nauseating energy. Centimeter by centimeter, he had managed to break each layer of the field. He was almost there, he could sense the field debilitating by the second.

“Strange!! I cannot hold the shield any longer!” Came Wong’s desperate cry, the legion of demons seemed to have doubled its efforts to destroy them, their movements and attacks more erratic by the minute.

A deafening crash filled the place. Stephen had finally managed to shatter the barrier, immediately placing a hand on Mordo’s head while simultaneously taking away the Darkhold. He could feel his hand being burned by the evil book. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on enclosing it in a protective spell. With the last of his remaining strength, he began the counter spell to stop the summon, the chanting the only thing that could stop Chthon from escaping its realm.

A booming voice echoed all around them

“It is too late wizard, the summoning is almost complete, you are too weak to stop me now!”

A blast of energy was thrown trough the portal, wiping out all that stood around it. The demons were dispelled by the force of the attack and Wong was flung a couple of meters in the air. Stephen braced himself, he could not let the invocation to continue, the faith of everything depended on him not letting go of Mordo.  
  
With a superhuman effort, he stood his ground, refusing to let go of the man’s head, never breaking his counter spell.

He felt drained, every second felt like an hour, every word that left his mouth had to be imbued with magical intent, the core of his very being feeling the crushing pressure of the dark energy, his own energy evaporating like thin mist.

His eyes started to glow, he felt a surge of power run trough his veins, he could feel his chanting’s reverting the summoning, there was hope still!

“NO! This cannot be! I am so close! I cannot be defeated!” The terrible echo boomed around them, a renewed surge of energy invoking the demonic legion once again. They materialized as a black goo oozing from the ground, their horrific shrieks filling the air.

Stephen felt as if time had stopped, he had reached his limit, and had gone over it, he had no idea how he was still standing, still sending his energy through Mordo, reverting the portal. He could see and hear nothing, oblivious to the imminent dangers around him. He could only sense the bright warmth of his own magic surrounding him. He felt himself drifting away, he realized he could just let go and make all his pain and suffering go away. But...there was something in the back of his mind urging him, he couldn’t just let go, he had things to do, he knew he had left someone waiting for him, and even if his mind couldn’t focus on a single thought, he felt he was needed.

With a last great effort, he regained his senses, sending a last surge of energy through him. A blinding light enveloped the area, the resulting explosion tossing Stephen off the ground.

A deafening silence filled the air. Wong came to his senses with a start. As he looked around, he saw that the portal had disappeared.

The sorcerer supreme had managed to prevent Chthon from escaping its realm. But the resulting backlash of energy had taken its toll on Stephen. Wong could tell even from a distance that the sorcerer had drained himself, depleting his vital force almost completely.

 

* * *

 

“Shit! FRIDAY! Tell me what to do! What can I do?” asked Tony desperately. He had Stephen in a tight embrace, cradling the man’s head in his trembling hands.  
  
“I’m sorry boss, there seems to be nothing physically wrong with Dr. Strange, his state seems to stem from a magical condition”

“I fucking hate magic!” said Tony with a trembling voice. How was this fair? How could he save Stephen when there was some hocus pocus involved? He was running his options inside his head, he would take Stephen back to Kamar-Taj, they would surely know how to fix him. He also needed to let Carol know of the situation, they might need Dr. Cho’s expertise on this case.

He stood up with Stephen in his arms, getting ready to blast off to the temple, when a swirl of magic sparks opened a portal in front of him. A worried looking Wong stepped out.

“Wong! Fuck, I’ve never been happier to see you! I need your help! Stephen collapsed!”

Kneeling once again, Tony let Stephen on the ground, keeping the man’s head on his lap. He couldn’t help putting a protecting hand on the other’s forehead.

“Yes, he received a strong magical attack, he drained most of his vital force protecting earth from an evil force. There’s nothing we can do here, let’s take him to the Sanctorum, I’ll take care of his ailment there”

Wong stepped through the portal, Tony carrying Stephen on his arms hot on his heels.


	8. A past life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A smashed wrist watch caught his attention, it had an inscription on its back that read “Time will tell how much I love you, Christine”. Tony felt his stomach hit the ground.
> 
> Or
> 
> Tony Stark believes he’s made a terrible mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait.  
> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. An apology in advance since this turned out way shorter than what I had planned, but there’s some fluff to make up for it.  
> As always constructive criticism is welcome.  
> Thank you for reading!

Waiting was the worst.

Once Tony and Wong got Stephen into the sanctum, there had simply been nothing else Tony could do but sit down and wait for Wong to help the sorcerer.

Wong had told him not to worry, that Stephen would get by, but the way the man wouldn’t look him in the eye gave him a pretty good idea of how grave the situation was.

He tried to keep his head straight, but a numbing feeling quickly took over him. He contacted Carol, letting her know what had happened, asking her to take care of the authorities back at Nepal. She made him promise he would keep her upto date with Stephens recovery.

Soon after, he received a couple of calls and messages from the rest of his team, everyone was worried for the wellbeing of the doctor. Tony still had a hard time believing this team cared so much for one another. In his experience, teams didn’t work that way, they didn’t keep in contact with each other, and they certainly didn’t care when one of them got injured. This was something entirely new for him, and it had taken him a long time to realize just how messed up things had been last time.

He had just finished his call with Rhodey when he received a message. Peter, bless his heart, had been texting him, trying to cheer him up.

He looked at the time, it was almost 11 o’clock, that meant he had gone for over twelve hours without sleep or food. His body still hadn’t caught up with all that had happened, after all, he was used to being awake for several days at a time whenever he worked in his lab, but for a lack of something better to do, and suspecting Wong would appreciate the gesture, he decided to go out and fetch some food. He found a small deli around the corner from the sanctum sanctorum and got a couple of sandwiches. He might have bought a bit more food than what two full grown man could eat, but he still harbored some hope that Stephen might be awake when he got back.

As he shuffled his feet down the street he received a couple of stares. Being a celebrity, he was used to the constant public attention, but for once he was grateful people kept to their business, he really was in no mood to interact with strangers. Once he got back, there was no sign of any changes in the sanctum, so he decided to sit outside what he came to think of as the magic operating room. He’d gotten a quick glance of the spacious chamber when he had carried Stephen in. An extensive assortment of magical artefacts covered the walls and tables all around, but his worry had prevented him from paying any real mind to anything inside the room.

He spent the next 45 minutes half dozing off when the door suddenly opened, revealing an exhausted looking Wong. If the man was surprised to find Tony still in the sanctum, he didn’t show it, he simply flopped down next to Tony, who promptly offered him the bag of sandwiches. That gained him an appreciative nod. They sat in silence for a bit, Tony dying to know how Stephen was, but deciding to give Wong a break, it looked like the man really needed it. Once he’d finished wolfing down the sandwich Wong finally decided to speak.

“Stephen’s out of danger now, I managed to restore his vital energy force, but it was a close call. All we have to do is let him sleep it off, it might take him a day or two to recover, it’s hard to tell at this point” Wong said with a tired expression.

Tony hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath, but hearing Stephen was out of harm’s way had been a huge relief, and it must have shown in his face, because Wong seemed to take pity on him.

“I think there would be no harm done in a quick visit, you can go in if you want” he said with a knowing look, taking a bite out of another sandwich.

Tony inclined his head, giving him a tired smile. “Thanks Wong, you really are a miracle worker”

He hurried up and entered the room, there was nothing he wanted more than to see Stephen, lay his hands down on him and make sure he was truly alive and well.

Inside the chamber he saw a makeshift bed, Stephen laying under the white sheets. He looked pale and a little bruised, but otherwise unharmed, sound asleep. Tony felt as if hisheart might had gotten stuck in his throat, the overwhelming relief finally making him feel all the exhaustion of the last couple of hours crash up on him. He sat down on a small stool that was placed beside the bed. His hand automatically sought Stephen’s, his body moving on its own accord, as if it knew it had to make sure the doctor was there.

He saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Turning around he saw the levitation cloak, floating near its master. Tony had the distinct feeling the cloak was fretting, as if it didn’t know what to do with itself. Perhaps, much like Tony, it was worried about Stephen.

“Hey, cloak. Don’t look so sad, I’m sure Stephen will be up and about in no time, he is a remarkable man after all”

The cloak seemed surprised to be addressed directly, but overall happy for the reassurance. After some thought, it seemed to make up its mind, it floated around closer to Tony and it flung one of its ends on his back in a fairly good imitation of giving him a pat on the back. Tony was surprised, but he appreciated the gesture none the less.

He let his mouth run, telling jokes that Stephen couldn’t hear, but that the cloak seemed to enjoy. He talked about everything and nothing at once, rambling on whatever topic he could think of. He hated seeing Stephen in that condition, so he felt the need to fill the silence with inane chatter, least the reality of the situation came crashing down on him.

After a while Wong came back to the room. He witnessed the exchange with an amused expression, he had no doubt both men shared an obvious attraction towards each other, and he guessed it made perfect sense, seeing as they were both idiots in his opinion, they would surely suit each other just fine.

“We should take him back to his quarters, I’m sure Stephen would much rather recover his strength there than in this old room” Wong said from the doorway.

 

* * *

 

Tony helped push the makeshift bed into Stephen’s chambers. Wong had enchanted it to make it float, serving as a stretcher of sorts. Once inside, Wong levitated Stephen’s unconscious body into the doctor’s own bed. Tony, yielding to his growing curiosity, took the time to quickly inspect the room. He felt it perfectly reflected the man’s personality somehow, and unlike Stephen’s room back in Kamar-Taj, this one felt lived in, full of Stephens books and magic trinkets.

A smashed wrist watch that laid over a small desk caught his attention. It seemed like an expensive clock that had its face cracked, with an inscription on its back that read “Time will tell how much I love you, Christine”. Tony felt his stomach hit the ground. Christine Palmer, Stephen had mentioned her once or twice during their conversations. But Stephen had never really specified what his status with her had been. Tony had simply assumed they had been colleagues that perhaps had tangled into something that hadn’t worked out, but the watch made it seem like something else completely. He felt like such a fool, how could he not have asked Stephen about his love life before? At the time he still had been in denial, he thought keeping Stephen’s private life as far away from his as possible was the best way to go about things. But now…

Tony felt a pang of guilt, but he wasn’t sure why. The watch had been in plain sight, so he had hardly intruded in anything Stephen hadn’t wanted the world to see. Perhaps he felt guilty because he had assumed Stephen had participated in their flirting game willingly, but maybe Tony had made it so that the other man had had no other option but to play along, so as not to make things awkward between them. Either way, his heart felt crushed, he didn’t want to jump to conclusions,but he could no longer dismiss his feelings as a simple crush, he knew he was falling in love, and hard.

 

* * *

 

 

Stephen woke up with a terrible headache. His whole body felt heavy and his mind sluggish. As he slowly came about,he recognized the ceiling, he was in his own room back at the sanctum. With some effort he pushed himself up from the mattress, noticing an IV drip sticking out of his arm.

He perceived there was someone else in the room with him. He struggled to focus his eyes, they felt itchy and sore; he saw a woman standing on the far end of the room, rearranging some medical equipment. He must’ve made some noise, because she turned around and quickly approached his bed.

“Christine? What are you doing here?” He asked with a raspy voice.

“Stephen! I’m so glad you’re awake. Your friend Tony called me” She said with a fond expression. “Imagine my surprise when a guy that claimed to be Anthony Stark phoned me. He said you where in trouble, asked if I wanted to see you, so here I am” she finished softly, tugging a stray hair behind her ear.

“I… thank you, it’s really good to see you Christine” Stephen said slowly, trying to make sense of what she had told him.

“How are you feeling?”

“I…I’ve felt better, I believe I’m dehydrated” he said, easily recognizing his symptoms.

“Yeah, I figured as much, I’ve put you on a saline drip, that should take care of things for now”

An awkward silence fell between them and Stephen felt a pang of guilt. Christine used to be one of his closest friends, his only friend if he really thought about it, but now… he suddenly realized that Christine wasn’t the person he really wanted to see right now.

As if sensing his thoughts, she asked him “You want to see him? He’s been waiting around for you to wake up, I don’t think he’s slept more than a couple of hours since god knows when”

His surprise must’ve shown in his face because she let out a small grin. He nodded, words failing him. He thought he saw a hint of something in her eyes, but he couldn’t figure out what it was, she simply gave him the warmest smile and turned to leave the room. Stephen came to realize that Christine hadn’t had to specify who she was referring to, he had simply known without a doubt that Tony would be there waiting for him to wake up.

She came back into the room shortly after, followed by an anxious looking Tony.

“I’ll leave you two alone. Tony, if you need me I’ll be downstairs with Wong”

Tony gave her a brief smile and thanked her, turning his full attention on Stephen once he heard the door close behind them. He stepped up to Stephen’s bed an sat in the small stool he had used over the last day and a half to watch over Stephen.

“Hey there sparks, how you feel?” He said with a confidence he didn’t really feel, looking anywhere but at Stephen’s face. It was a relief to see the man awake and apparently unharmed.

“Tony… I’m fine now” He said with a raspy and low voice, realizing that Tony seemed flustered.

“Wong tells me you drained your vital force or something like that… you were in a coma for a day” He trailed off, his hand snaking to rest at the edge of the bed, he wanted to touch Stephen’s hand so badly, to reassure himself that the man was really there, but he restrained himself, gripping the bedsheets instead. “You gave us a scare doctor!” (You scared me) he left unsaid.

“That bad? Well, I feel a lot better now, thanks” (I’m sorry I scared you, I did not mean to). He said with a conciliatory tone. It was as if they were having a secret conversation only they could understand.

“You called Christine?” (Why?) Stephen asked genuinely intrigued.

“Yeah, it is protocol… she was one of the few people on your emergency contact list” (I know she is someone important to you)

“I see, thanks… she’s a good friend” he said, looking Tony in the eye, hoping he would catch the full weight of his words.

Tony snapped his eyes to Stephen’s, trying to find any hidden meaning to what he’d just heard.

After a brief silence, he dared to speak again “I saw the watch she gave you…” he said bashfully. Stephen gave him a sharp look. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, I just assumed…we never discussed…” Tony didn’t know how to end his sentence. What was there to say? Stephen had never made his love life clear, and Tony was starting to feel like maybe he’d seen too much into their little flirting games.

With a trembling hand, Stephen covered Tony’s fist, the man had been holding the bedsheets with enough force to turn his knuckles white.

“Tony… the watch, Christine, they all belong to a past life. It is a life I cannot go back to, and she knows it. I have moved on, and I’d like to believe I’ve found someone in the same situation as me”

Stephen thought back to the first time he’d met Tony. The man had been a mess, he had recently received a devastating blow with the avenger’s separation, the public’s scorn was upon him, the world governments were looking for someone to blame, and Iron man had become the only available target at the time. And as such, his personal relationship hadn’t withstood the resulting pressure. Tony had once told him Pepper Potts had been the best thing that had ever happened to him, but that she belonged to an Anthony Stark that had died in a bunker in Siberia. The man that had survived had been a different one. He had been changed forever, she had known it, and as much as he had wanted to cling to her, he knew he could not make her love him for who he was now.That resonated with Stephen, he knew, that once upon a time, he might have been able to be happy with Christine, but he was a different man now, and he could not turn his back to the life he now had.

Tony couldn’t believe what he had heard, he knew he was looking into the other man’s face with too much intensity, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but it was turning near impossible not to.

With some uncertainty, he turned over his hand, entwining his fingers with Stephen’s. They gingerly held hands, the gesture suddenly felt intimate, as if they were really looking at each other for the first time. They shared a wondrous smile, the reassurance that their feelings where mutual making them both feel elated.

“I’m glad you’re back…I was afraid I’d lose you…” Tony confessed with a whisper. One would’ve thought that being in the superhero business made you indifferent to near death experiences, but the truth was the fear never left, the agonizing feeling of not knowing if a loved one would survive never lessened its intensity, you felt it as strongly as the first time it happened.

“I’m glad to be back” he said with a small smile, caressing his trembling thumb over Tony’s hand.  

With a hesitant movement, Tony inched closer to Stephen, giving the man all the time in the world to decide if he wanted to be kissed. Stephen just looked at him with an amused smile, so Tony took that as a ‘yes’ and finally let his lips brush over Stephen’s, sharing a small and warm kiss.


	9. Ugly robots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen took Tony’s hand, both laid down on the grass, admiring the night sky above them. They shared a soft and tentative kiss. Stephen let his hand rest over Tony’s face, tenderly caressing his features.
> 
> Or
> 
> Stephen takes Tony on a romantic stroll

 

Following Christine’s advice, Stephen had taken another couple of days to recover completely. Tony had been more than ready to camp in the Sanctum Sanctorum, unwilling to leave Stephen’s side even for a moment, even going as far as making arrangements to improvise an office in one of the temple’s spare rooms. But Stephen had dissuaded him; he had assured the brunet he would stay put and have a good rest. He had also pointed out that Tony was probably needed by his company and by the Avengers alike. Tony had seemed disappointed, but he had been receiving non-stop notifications from FRIDAY, it seemed a lot of people had been looking for him since he had gone away to Nepal. With some reluctance, Tony had agreed, and bid his farewell to Wong, Stephen and the levitation cloak.

In all honesty, Stephen HAD desperately wanted to spend a couple of days alone with Tony, but if anything, he was a practical man, and as such he knew that realistically they wouldn’t be having an ideal vacation. Tony would most likely spend all his time glued to his phone and his starkpad, trying to solve the innumerable conflicts that arose not only within his company, but also with the accord’s council, as well as dealing with any and every politician that wanted to get something out of Anthony Stark.

He had spent enough time with Tony to know that this was what the man had to put up with on a daily basis. He also knew Tony had to be ready to attend any Avengers call, and he would never put himself above Tony’s duty as a hero, no matter what Tony said, he’d never make the man choose one over the other. But most importantly, he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself with Tony around, and in his current state, that would most likely bring him more frustration and tension than he could currently handle.

There was also the matter of finding Mordo. Wong and Stephen had been speculating on whether the man had survived after Chton’s possession, but each passing day that possibility seemed dimmer. They would have to locate the man’s body, and more importantly, they needed to seal the Darkhold, a forbidden ancient text that the man had used to invoke Chton’s forces. Stephen was also worried about the state of earth’s protective mystical field, it had suffered quite a strain during Chton’s attack, and he and Wong would have to join forces to strengthen the shield back to its original state.

All in all, both their agendas seemed to be filled to the brim, but they had both agreed that once Stephen felt strong enough, he’d stay at the Avengers compound for a couple of days, just so that Tony could pamper him properly.

 

* * *

 

 

A week later, Stephen felt strong enough to open a portal and step into the living room of the compound. He was greeted by part of the team, who had been gathered in some team-bonding exercise, which was code for ‘Peter had insisted on watching some movies and everyone had happily agreed’. Luke Cage and Jessica Jones were snuggled together on the farthest loveseat, with Danny, Carol and Tony all happily sitting in a large sofa, Peter was sprawled over a couple of blankets and pillows on the living room floor. Everybody got up at the sight of the newcomer.

Luke and Danny unanimously decided that the doctor’s return had to be celebrated, so they asked FRIDAY to get them some take out, while Carol, Jessica and Peter took turns in welcoming back the sorcerer.

“Welcome back Doc!! We’ve missed you!” said Tony happily, giving Stephen a quick hug.

“Yeah, Tony has been moping non-stop since you left doc, it was quite pathetic” Said Danny in a deadpan.

Everybody laughed, they all knew Tony was like an open book when he left his guard down, and the man had been rather absent minded ever since the doctor had taken ill.

“Hey! I do not mop, thank you very much” said Tony with feigned hurt.

Danny looked Stephen dead in the eye with the most serious expression he could muster, saying his next words slowly “NON-STOP moping” Stephen couldn’t suppress a smile at that.

“We’ve all missed you Stephen, I’m really glad you’re back” Carol says with a wide smile, interrupting Tony and Danny’s squabble.

“Stephen, you have to tell us what happened! All Tony had to say was that you had a ‘wizard fight’” Jessica Jones told with a grin, emphasizing the wizard fight part making air quotes.

“Well, I’m sorry, I wish I had wizard vision, but I haven’t gotten to inventing that yet” replied Tony in his defense, and if he were totally honest, at the time he hadn’t really cared for the details, all he had cared about was knowing Stephen would be ok.

So, Stephen sat down in the living room with the rest of the team, telling them all about what had happened, starting with Mordo and his quest for revenge upon Kamar-Taj and their sorcerers. He explained how Chthon had been summoned, and how they had managed to defeat him.

“So, is this Chthon thing something we have to worry about? Will he be able to come back?” Luke asked with a concerned face, he didn’t like the idea of an evil force out there that he couldn’t physically punch to oblivion.

“Hopefully not, Wong and I have been working on some powerful spells to seal the old texts used to summon him. We are doing our best to ensure that no one else gets a hold of it in the future”

 

By the time Stephen had finished his tale the food had arrived, and everyone made their way down the hall to the kitchen.

Stephen, Peter and Tony had been the last to leave the living room and they were walking alongside each other. Tony and Peter shared a glance and he signaled the youngster something that Stephen couldn’t quite make out. The boy seemed to catch Tony’s meaning and his face suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. He kept looking between Stephen and Tony with a growing grin and letting out the tiniest of squeaks, making Tony laugh out loud.

“Stop it kid, you’re gonna hurt your jaw if you keep that up, now go on and make sure the others leave us some food kiddo” he said jokingly.

Peter just let out a good-natured laugh and skipped down the hall towards the kitchen while he shouted “congratulations!”, leaving a perplexed looking Stephen and an amused Tony behind.

“What was that about?” Stephen asked gingerly.

“Nothing much, I just promised Peter he would be the first one to know whenever we started dating” said Tony as a matter of fact.

Stephen let out a startled smile “You…I…what?”

“You look very endearing when you blush, did you know that?” asked Tony teasingly, grabbing the doctor by the arm and hauling him towards the kitchen once again. “Anyway, the kid asked me ages ago if we were dating, and I jokingly told him he’d be the first one to know when that happened” he said as they resumed their way towards the kitchen.

“‘When’” Stephen repeated with a smile.

“When, if, does it matter?” Tony said smugly, making him smile.

“Well, he’s a sharp-eyed kid, I’ll give him that” said Stephen with a fond smile. He had been drawn to the kid’s charisma, much like everyone else had. He was without a doubt the light of the team, and everyone had a tacit agreement to protect the kid at all cost.

“You…don’t really mind, do you?” Tony asked off handedly. Stephen had come to recognize whenever Tony was making a bluff, and by the looks of it, the man was rather worried by his response.

Stephen considered this for a moment. Peter was practically Tony’s kid, they all knew it, and he really didn’t mind the kid knowing he was going out with Tony. As for the rest of the team, and possibly the public in general, he found that he cared very little what anyone might think of his relationship with Tony. The thought was rather liberating, not that he had cared in the first place, but knowing that sharing his life with Tony outweighed by far whatever the public opinion might be was rather revealing.

“Not at all, furthermore, I have no objection in making our relationship known to others, but I’d rather leave that decision up to you, you are, after all, a very public figure”

“So are you, sugarplum, but I appreciate your trust nonetheless” Tony seemed relieved, he hadn’t exactly planned on making a public statement about his new relationship, but he at least intended on letting the important people in his life know about it, starting with Peter. It was a relief to know Stephen at least didn’t seem bothered either way.

After dinner, they had all called it a night. Happy had taken Peter home, and Jessica and Luke had decided to go out for the weekend. That left Carol, Danny, Tony and Stephen the only ones left on the compound.

Very early on, both Carol and Tony had decided to let the team members choose if they wanted to live in the compound or on their own, feeling that it was a good way to let people adapt to the avenging line of work at their own pace. Tony and Carol, being the team leaders, had agreed that at least one of them should stay at the compound at all times, to answer any emergency calls they might receive.

Vision, Danny, Luke and Jessica had opted to live semi-permanently on the compound, with Peter, Matt, Rhodey and Stephen choosing to live on their own. They had all agreed to respond to any emergency call whenever they were able.

Bidding their farewell, Danny and Carol had gone to their respective rooms, leaving Stephen and Tony alone for the evening.

“Care for a stroll?” asked Stephen gallantly, getting ready to open a portal to take them somewhere where they could have some alone time.

“Oh, how romantic! Lead the way sweetums” said Tony happily, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

That gained him a playful swat from Stephen, who promptly opened a portal for them to cross. They stepped over some grass on the other side, the night sky a strikingly beautiful scene above their heads. They seemed to be on an isolated open field, the night breeze delicately ruffling their hair.

Stephen took Tony’s hand and indicated him to sit down. They both laid down on the grass, admiring the view above them. Then, using some of his magic, Stephen lit up hundredths of soft and small lights around them, mimicking the light of beautiful fireflies.

Tony was openly mesmerized by the display, feeling a sudden happiness he hadn’t felt in quite a while. Turning his gaze from the lights above him, he sought Stephen’s eyes, who was watching him closely.

If he where honest with himself, Stephen had been a bit nervous to see Tony’s reaction. He’d never been an openly romantic man, considering such expressions beneath himself, but he now realized that he’d never truly wanted to impress anyone in his life, until now. Leaning down, he sought Tony’s lips. They shared a soft and tentative kiss under the night sky, both seeking the other’s warmth.Stephen deepened the kiss, letting his hand rest over Tony’s face, tenderly caressing his features.

The kiss soon turned into a heated dance, both men exploring the exposed skin they could reach, sharing intimate little laughs and encouraging murmurs, until Stephen pushed himself up on his elbows, plucking a stray grass blade out of Tony’s hair.

“Care to take this somewhere more…private? Stephen asked with a husky tone.

“Please” came Tony’s almost plea.

Standing up, Stephen helped Tony get up from the floor, and he promptly opened up a portal back to the compound, and straight into Tony’s room.

 

* * *

 

The morning sun shone brightly through the Compound’s main hall windows. Scott stood fretting inside the hall,trying to hold still with little to no success. He was currently waiting for his little girl Cassie. It would be the first time he saw her in well over a year, and the waiting was killing him.

It had been hell convincing his ex-wife to let him see his daughter once again, and as much as her actions had hurt him, he couldn’t really blame her, he knew he had fucked up when he had blindly followed the Cap. He had spared no thought to what would happen to him or his loved ones when he had answered Steve Roger’s call.

His life had been turned upside down in the last couple of years, becoming Ant-Man, meeting the Avengers, getting caught in the Civil war… Scott would have never guessed,even in his wildest dreams that he’d end up involved in an international conflict regarding a band or superheroes, and yet, here he was, serving his sentence at the Avengers compound.

He’d been terrified of the possibility of going back to jail, he didn’t think he would be able to go through something like that again, and he had come so close, that it still gave him chills to think about it. He was well aware that house arrest wasn’t the worst deal he could have gotten.

Compared to last time he’d been locked up, this was like a breeze. He was actually doing something productive instead of spending his time in a cell, he was helping people, and he was helping clean up the superhero’s reputation in the public’s eye. The accords had designated him as an emergency support for natural disasters. His ability to shrink and grow at will made him an invaluable asset in rescue missions, especially in earthquake disaster zones and collapsed buildings and structures. If he where honest with himself, he finally felt like he was doing something worthwhile with his life, he finally felt like a superhero.

He was also slowly rebuilding his relationship with his daughter. He’d been in contact with Cassie via phone calls and mails, and she was ecstatic for his new-found superhero status, she was so proud of him, it made his heart swell knowing his kid thought the world of him. He had promised himself he would do everything in his power to never disappoint his daughter ever again. Hence his current fretting state. He was worried what his kid would think of daddy’s fancy prison.

He quickly turned around when he heard a pair of small feet running towards him.

“Daddy!!!” Cassie shouted with glee.

Scott ran and met her half way, sweeping her out of her feet in a tight hug.

“Baby!!! Oh my god you’re so big! Are you sure you’re my baby girl?”

“Daddy! Stop! Yes, it’s me!” she answered with an amused smile.

She was followed by Maggie, Scott’s ex-wife, and Lucy Shawn, the accord’s agent responsible for monitoring family visits on the compound.

“Mr. Lang, please allow me to remind you that you have limited access to some parts of the compound” Scott nodded, sobering up. He knew the accords council were very strict on keeping them in check, the last thing he wanted was to make his ex-wife and kid feel alienated by the compound’s guards.

“However,” Ms. Lucy continued “you have access to a guided tour around the compound if you so wish to participate, Mr. Stark has also granted you access to part of his lab for the day, where a small workshop has been set up for your kid if she is so inclined to participate”

At her words, Maggie, Scott and Cassie exchanged glances. Scott hadn’t expected that, and by the delighted exclamations of her daughter, he could pretty much guess she was on board with the idea.

 

Cassie had loved the guided tour. They had visited several areas of the compound, including a visit to the garage with the many impressive vehicles and quinjets the Avenger’s owned. They had also made a visit to the training grounds, where they had been lucky enough to see part of a training session involving Ms. Marvel, Iron Fist and Spider-man. Cassie had had the chance to meet them afterwards, and she had been beyond herself. She had been particularly excited to meet Captain Marvel and had laughed at Danny’s and Peter’s jokes.

The tour had ended with a fun robotics workshop imparted by an easy-going lab technician named Andy. He had shown Cassie how to build some small robots with Legos. They had built a small and ugly looking robot. Cassie had loved it.

It had been a surprisingly entertaining day for all. He felt his heart break when he had to say good-bye to his little girl, but they had promised they would visit him again soon.

Once Maggie and Cassie were gone, he went back to the living quarters assigned to the ex-vengers. He was welcomed by the others with several questions thrown at him at the same time.

“Hey Scott, how did it go?” Asked Sam, putting down the book he had been reading.

“How was the family?” Asked Steve almost at the same time, while Clint came over from the kitchen with a can of soda.

“It was great!” Said Scott, dropping down on a comfy looking couch “I mean… we got a tour of the compound and Cassie got to play in Stark’s lab. It was pretty fun actually” he said as an afterthought.

He still couldn’t figure out Tony Stark, the man was a total enigma for Scott. He hadn’t had a chance to interact with him outside of the weekly training sessions the team had, and he felt like he only knew Tony through the eyes of others. Cap and company never painted a flattering image of him, depicting him as a power-hungry selfish asshole that only cared for his own agenda. The media painted the man as the greatest superhero and as the world’s worst menace, it changed from day to day and from one tv station to another, even Hank Pym had told him he couldn’t trust any Stark.

But right now, he didn’t know what to think of the man. He knew Tony had no obligation to be nice to him or his family, and yet, he had gone through all the trouble to let his family have a good time together. It was a nice gesture, and Scott greatly appreciated it.

“Yeah, my kids loved the tour and the workshop, the boys wanted to make their own plasma guns, their mother was not pleased” said Clint with a grimace.

Steve and the others shared a smile “I just think it’s neat, what Stark did, I didn’t expect that” said Scott pensively.

“He’s probably just trying to make up for keeping us locked up here” came Clint’s sarcastic response, but they all could tell there was no real heat behind his words.

“I mean, he’s even footing the bill on my family’s trips to come see me. Laura told me an ‘anonymous’ donation had been done to her casually after I let out they where having trouble making the constant trips all the way upstate to come see me. Who else could have been? Who else would give a fuck if I got to see my family ever again?” Clint had put down his soda, opting to play with the metal tab instead.“The bastard is making it really hard for me to hate his guts” He finished off with a huff.

Scott was surprised, he’d heard Clint’s family had been having trouble visiting him, but he had no idea why. He was glad Maggie and Cassie lived not too far from the compound, and even happier that Maggie seemed more open to let him see his daughter again.

“Of course Tony would help you out Clint, it’s the right thing to do” came Steve’s almost condescending reply.

“I don’t think many people would actually do what Stark is doing, Steve” said Sam with an awkward gesture “The fact that the man has the means to help Clint doesn’t mean he is obliged to do so”

Sam usually didn’t care what the others thought about Tony, he really hadn’t gotten to know him all that well, but he did notice that quite often, the man’s actions where seen through a distorted vision, oftentimes discrediting him for his good actions, under the assumption that it was the man’s job or responsibility somehow, just like now.

“Also, the food was great” said Scott, breaking the awkward silence between Sam and Steve “I wonder if I can convince Tony to let us use one of the Hummvees next time, Cassie would love that”

The others let out a laugh at Scott’s remark, even Steve smiled reluctantly. Either way, Scott decided that, from now on, he would base his opinion of Tony on the things he saw rather than the things people told him about the man.

 

* * *

 

A couple of days later, Luke, Tony and Peter were gathered in the compound’s kitchen. They were in charge of transporting and stocking this week’s food provisions from the cargo bay; Tony was insisting on using a couple of his drones to carry the boxes, with both Peter and Luke trying to convince him of doing it the old fashion way.

“You can’t just ask FRIDAY to do all the work mate, a little exercise would do you some good” Luke told Tony teasingly, with the other man faking an offended huff.

“Cage, have you seen this body?! I happen to exercise just the right amount to keep this fine ass in shape. And that’s where you’re wrong Mr. Incredible, I can, and I will! Open your heart to the wonders of technology!”

Stifling a laugh, Peter intervened “Mr. Stark, I agree with Luke, maybe we should just go and do it by hand, it’ll only take like, a minute”

“Ahh!! Blasphemy! I’d never thought you the type to turn your back on some fun kiddo” Tony stood form his place and got another cup of coffee, he placed it on the counter and turned around to get some sugar.

While he had his back to the other two a portal suddenly opened over the counter, a hand quickly reached for the cup Tony had just put down and replaced its contents with a translucent liquid, it seemed like simple water. The hand disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, and by the time Tony had turned around it had long gone. Luke and Peter shared a skeptical glance, not sure what had just happened, the hand had obviously belonged to Dr. Strange, so they both guessed Tony wouldn’t be suddenly poisoned.

Tony reached for his cup while the other two simultaneously tried to warn him off, Luke with a “Tony, I don’t think you should…” and Peter trying to inch closer to him with a “Mr. Stark, there’s something wrong with your…”

Tony almost spat the contents of his cup, a bewildered and exasperated expression on his face. “STRANGE!! Again??!! This is the third time this week!!!”

Luke and Peter couldn’t hold in their laughter, Tony’s flustered face making them roar even harder.

Calming down, Luke managed to get a hold of himself “Do we need to know what’s going on?” he asked, mirth still dancing in his eyes.

Tony just sighted “The good Doctor seems to believe I drink too much coffee, and I suspect he is in cahoots with a naughty AI that has been helping him” Tony threw a recriminating glance towards one of the cameras, no doubt FRIDAY was in on the joke.

“Excessive intake of caffeine is the number one cause of arrhythmia and increased blood pressure, boss” came FRIDAYS unrepentant reply.

Another portal opened and closed in front of them, with a little tea bag flying through it as if someone on the other side had thrown it. It landed on Tony’s head. The man didn’t even react to it, just closing his eyes in the universal expression of ‘dear god give me patience’.

“I might have also made fun of Gandalf and told him there was no way he could stop me from drinking coffee” he finally said with a resigned expression. “A word of advice, kids, NEVER mess with a cranky wizard” He told Luke and Peter, the two of them laughing their heads off at Tony’s predicament.

“Welp, I would feel sorry for you man, but somehow, I feel like you earned this” said Luke with a laugh, while he and Peter dragged him out of his seat, making their way to the cargo bay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried really hard to write some smut for this chapter, but it was awful to be honest, and let’s be serious, nobody likes awful smut.  
> As always, constructive criticism and comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading!!


	10. The birds and the bees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Stevie, are you insane? Why the hell did you go to Carol with this? Is it because he’s gay? Do you have a problem with that?” Bucky asked with a skeptical face.  
> “What? NO! it’s not like that Bucky!” Steve’s face was crimson red.
> 
> Or
> 
> Steve has some concerns regarding Tony and Stephen.

It was a clear morning at the compound.

Jessica, Rhodey, Vision and Tony where getting themselves some breakfast, when a portal suddenly opened, and a disheveled looking Stephen Strange came through. It was a testament of how often this scene played that the occupants of the kitchen barely glanced his way when he stepped out.

“Morning sunshine” came Tony’s greeting. He had discovered that Stephen was NOT a morning person, and who was he kidding, neither was he, but they had fallen into a routine of getting breakfast together as often as they could.

A low grumble was Stephen’s response, before he shuffled his way towards a cup of coffee that Jessica very kindly offered him.

“You look peachy today doctor, had a good sleep?” she teased, while grabbing a cup of the hot beverage herself.

“Late night reading, kept myself awake ‘til 3 in the morning” he managed to mumble between gulps of coffee.

“Anything interesting you’re researching doctor?” Vision asked interestedly. He, Matt and the doctor would often engage in philosophical debates. They could be seen siting down discussing for hours on end. The others had quickly learnt to avoid their little reunions, least they be dragged in ethical, moral and theoretical discussions with no way out.

“Found a spell that could be used to alert us of any entity, physical or metaphysical, that threatens earth’s outer field” he answered, while grabbing a piece of toast Tony offered him.

“So, basically, like a car alarm that goes off when something goes near it, but like, for outer space” said Tony with an interested expression “sounds great doctor!”

Stephen’s only answer was an amused huff. He loved that man, but sometimes his cheekiness was just too much to bear on an empty stomach.

“I’d love to hear more about it doctor, if you would like to share your research with me” said Vision while taking a seat next to Stephen.

Everyone sat down to enjoy their breakfast, getting ready to start another busy day. It was during his second cup of coffee that Tony had had a revelation. It had come to him as revelations usually did, apropos of nothing: Right at this moment, and despite everything, his life seemed perfect. He was surrounded by people that loved and trusted him, and he knew he could count with them, come hell or high water.

He and Stephen had been going out for a couple of months now, but things hadn’t really changed all that much between them. The sex was great, he had no complaints in that regard, but he realized that he used to spend so much time with the man that they could have technically been dating all this time. Tony could be a genius, but even he had to admit that sometimes he was very dense. No wonder Rhodey and the others hadn’t really reacted to the news of them going out. Everyone had taken it in stride, so used to the idea of both men being so close, that becoming a couple hadn’t really taken them by surprise.

 

* * *

 

 

Things with the entire team finally seemed to be working out. After some initial troubles with the ex-vengers, things finally seemed to be falling in place. It was like everybody’s rolls came to them naturally, as if they had managed to find a good balance between them. Tony had been afraid the ex-vengers would try to hold on to their old tactics, but apparently, working with new people did wonders for them, at least inside the training grounds, and Tony couldn’t have been happier.

Today, the entire team had been on a training session, and for the first time, things had gone smoothly. Everyone had followed Carol and Tony’s calls, they had kept their positions, some of them had improvised and made excellent calls. All in all, it had been a great exercise.

On the last part of the training, Tony had ended up back to back with Stephen, both moving smoothly around each other. It was like watching a choreographed fight, with Stephen’s elegant and sharp movements and Tony’s rapid and powerful attacks. They were so in sync that it almost felt like they could read each other’s minds, covering their blind spots and combining each other’s attacks effortlessly.

A loud bell signaled the end of the training. The lights suddenly turned back on and the holograms they had been fighting disappeared at once.

“Good job everyone! I can finally see some progress!” Came Carol’s strong voice from the center of the room. “We have a long way to go, but I am proud of what we’ve accomplished! Now everyone, dismissed!” she said with a satisfied smile. They all cheered at her words, some of them clapping and slapping each other on their backs. Everyone felt a sense of triumph, like all their efforts were finally paying off, and they reveled in the sensation.

People started to leave the training grounds, most of them intending to get a good shower or some food. Stephen and Tony had stayed behind, joking and talking with one another, unaware of the skeptical glances Rogers and company were giving them.

 

* * *

 

Steve was impressed, he’d never seen a team work so well together; in his opinion, not even the old Avenger’s team had managed such flawless integration. He could easily recognize that the team Tony had gathered was impressive; they each had a unique strength that they brought to the table, making it a very efficient team. If he were completely honest with himself, he was rather excited to work alongside them, he felt like they really had a chance to recuperate the original purpose of the Avengers initiative.

He’d been frankly afraid of what a team under the leadership of Anthony Stark would be like, but it looked like his fears had been unfounded. He had to recognize that Tony seemed like a man with a firm purpose, and that gave the whole team a sense of direction that they hadn’t really had the first time around. He could also see a sharp contrast between the type of dynamics this team had. They somehow seemed more balanced. This team hadn’t had to suffer to come together, they had chosen to be part of something bigger, and it showed.

Thinking back on Tony, he was also surprised to see him getting along with so many new people. He thought back on the training session they’d just had, he’d been impressed with Tony and Strange’s performance. He had never seen Tony work so seamlessly with anybody else before. The man had once been near impossible to work with, his sarcasm and disregard for authority making him a weak link on the team. But he seemed like a new man altogether, and sometimes Steve had a hard time recognizing this new Tony. It left Steve feeling wrong-footed, and he didn’t know what to make of that.

 

* * *

 

 

“So… is Howard’s kid dating the wizard?” Bucky asked the others while he was drying his hair off with a towel.

After the training the ex-vengers had retired to their own building. Bucky, Steve, Clint, Sam, Natasha and Scott where all in their common room, they were getting a well-deserved rest after the day’s activities.

“I didn’t know Tony was gay” came Sam’s answer.

“You obviously haven’t been paying attention to the rumors” said Natasha with a bored expression.

“Yeah, for years Stark’s ass has been in every tabloid, pairing him with almost everybody he comes in contact with, man or woman alike” Clint said while he laid down on one of the room’s sofas.

“Well, yeah, I know, but I thought that was all they were, rumors” said Sam pensively.

“We’ve all seen how well they get along, I mean, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to think they’re together” said Natasha with a pointed look. They all knew Tony and Stephen had become inseparable. She’d had her suspicions for a long time now, but now that the others where pointing it out too, she supposed they had finally caught up to the obvious hints.

“I thought Tony was with Pepper” said Steve with a confused face.

“Stevie, even I noticed Stark hasn’t been with her for a while now” said Bucky with an exasperated smile. He knew Steve could be clueless sometimes, but it never ceased to amaze him how the man could miss so many things dancing right in front of him.

“Right” said a not entirely convinced Steve.

“Steve, do we have to tell you about the birds and the bees?” asked Clint with a fake sweet voice “You see, when two dudes fall in love…” he started in a singsong, only to be interrupted by a flying pillow thrown his way.

“I really don’t care one way or another” said Scott, biting down on a sandwich, “I just hope they don’t break up, or the team will fall apart, and just when we’re starting to not suck” he said wistfully.

“Dude, you don’t even know if they’re really together, and you’re already braking them off?” said Sam with a barely suppress laugh “Besides, I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you man, but you still suck, so…”

“Hey!!”

The others kept joking around and talking over themselves, but what Scott had said gave Steve some pause. Tony really shouldn’t be putting his priorities before those of the team, and if he really had a relationship with Strange, it could potentially lead to a disaster. As a leader, Tony really should know better. He couldn’t let something like that happen, not when the team was finally coming together. He would have to have a talk with Carol, perhaps she could make Tony see that fraternizing with someone on the team was not a good idea.

 

* * *

 

 

  
Carol’s office had a great view of the entire compound. From her sitting position, she could make out some workers going in the direction of the avenger’s garage. They must be the technicians Tony had trained to give maintenance to the many vehicles there. That meant it was probably close to 7:30 in the morning. With a deep sigh, she turned her chair back to her visitor, and wondered for the hundredth time what the hell had made Steve Rogers think it was a good idea to visit her at this hour, and with a complaint so ridiculous she was having a hard time taking it seriously.

“Steve, why do you feel Tony’s personal relationships could endanger the team in any way?” she said with a tired voice. They’d been over this for a while now.

“Carol, he is a team leader, he cannot establish any sentimental relationships with his underlings, that is a clear infraction of any team dynamics” said Steven with aplomb.

Sighing, she slowly massaged her temples, she could feel a headache coming her way. “Steve, there is nothing against fraternization amongst team members in the Avenger’s code of conduct, so technically, Tony would be doing nothing wrong if he were to date someone on the team” she said, looking at the other man in the eye. She knew he was presenting a valid concern, but the way the captan had presented himself in her office, with no real evidence, wanting Carol to disclose that information to him, and demanding that SHE put an end to it was what really got on her nerves.

She had known about Tony and Stephen for a wile now. Tony had come clean with his relationship with Stephen to her. They had talked about it at length, both realizing that without a doubt, the situation could arise some concerns amongst the council members, but they had agreed that it represented no clear infraction of any kind to any of the organization statutes. Furthermore, she trusted Tony not to let his personal affairs interfere with his leadership of the team, so she had seen no problem with the situation.

Tony had, however, warned Carol about the possibility that some of the ex-vengers could react badly to this news. She had painted his warning as paranoid, but now, she was frankly impressed by the man’s foresight, because not two months after, here was Steve Rogers, barging into her office with his suspicions of Tony having an affair with someone on the team and demanding Carol do something about it.

“Tony has a history of making bad decisions, he could do something reckless as a result of his involvement with…with a team mate!”

“You do realize that we have at least another two couples amongst the team, don’t you? Vision and Wand have openly expressed that they have a relationship, and Hope and Scott have been going steady for a while now” she said, trying to keep her composure, she was losing her patience, and fast.

“I…” Steve felt annoyed, he didn’t understand why Carol wasn’t taking him more seriously. This was something that could potentially be a dangerous situation for the entire team.

With a sigh, she continued in a lower voce “Listen, I believe this is bothering you because it involves Tony, since I don’t recall you making all these protests against your other team members when they made the relationships known. In my opinion, you really have to learn to recognize your animosity against him Steve”

That took Steve by surprise “What? I have no animosity against Tony! I never had!” he said defensively.

“But you do! The fact that you are here talking to me is a clear sign of that. Two of the most powerful beings on earth have embarked on a potentially disastrous situation, but the fact that you choose to worry about your suspicions instead, is a clear indication that you are only willing to judge Tony and not the others” Standing up, Carol rounded her desk and leaned against it, crossing her arms in front of her. She was now standing almost opposite of Steve, who looked annoyed at the implication that he might be doing this out of spite.

“Tell me something, what happened with Bucky’s treatment?”

The sudden change of topic took him by surprise. “I… he’s doing a lot better, he’s starting to regain his memories, and the doctor said they’re pretty sure they’ve managed to deactivate the brainwashing program”

“And yet you were adamant that they were going to hurt him, and I’m starting to suspect you felt that way because Tony’s B.A.R.F. program was involved” she said with as much tact as she could muster. She had started to notice a pattern involving Steve and Tony, and she suspected everyone else picked up on it and subconsciously imitated it.

Steve looked as if someone had slapped him, his eyes wide and his face red “No! I thought they would use Bucky as their weapon, I couldn’t let them hurt him like that again!”

Carol gave him a skeptical look “Ok, let’s leave that topic for another time” closing her eyes, she considered very carefully her next words “Steve, I advise you to reconsider your opinion of Tony. I believe he has done a commendable job as the leader of this team so far, and I think your concerns have no sustain. I will, however, take note of your complaint, but understand that the final call is mine to take, and as such, I will be the one to decide if any form of fraternization between ANY team member obstructs in any way the team’s dynamics, so I do not want you to approach Tony or anyone else over this mater, and please restrain yourself from discussing this with anyone else, understood? You are dismissed” she said with a finality that made no room for discussion.

Holding his tongue, Steve slowly got up from his seat to his full length, he stared Carol straight in the eye for a moment, before stiffly nodding and turning around, leaving the office with long and heavy strides.

Carol let out the exasperated sigh she had been holding in, this was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

 

  
“Stevie, are you insane? Why the hell did you go to Carol with this?” Bucky knew for a fact that Steve could be quite stubborn when the man wanted to be, but this was insane! They were currently sitting by themselves in one of their building’s spare rooms. Steve had confessed to him what he had told Carol, and Bucky was in the process of telling him just how stupid that had been.

Sometimes Bucky worried about Steve’s obsession with Tony, he understood Steve was currently in a rough position, with a lot of pressure on his shoulders, but this was plain ridiculous! He knew Steve had a good heart, but he usually had a one-track mind whenever he thought he was in the right.

“Is it because he’s gay? Do you have a problem with that?” He asked with a skeptical face.

“What? NO! it’s not like that Bucky!” Steve’s face was crimson red.

Bucky suspected Steve hadn’t even realized he was probably gay. He was fairly sure that his friend hadn’t yet understood that the constant obsession he showed towards him was not normal, that it was not how a pair of good old friends behaved. But he didn’t want to burden Steve with that revelation, it was something he would have to come to terms with on his own. He was also starting to realize that Steve must have at some point been attracted to Tony in some way, it was the only conclusion he could come up with that explained Steve’s fixation with the man.

“Ok, whatever you say Stevie, but listen to me, just leave this one alone, whoever Stark sleeps with shouldn’t be your concern, or anyone else’s for that matter”

It looked like Steve wanted to argue that, but he stayed silent, a stubborn frown fixed on his face. He recognized that look, and he was sure this would not be the last he would be hearing about this. Sometimes he worried about what Steve would do if he ever discovered he and Natasha had started to sleep together.


	11. Paper hats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sometimes I just can't stand her, she's always finding a way to bitch about things! And Mr. Stark. And the things Mr. Stark does”
> 
> Or 
> 
> Peter has a conversation with Ned and they talk about the new avengers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, forgot to put a warning here. There’s some smut on this chapter (not greatly written mind you, and nothing explicit) but I wanted to let you all know in advance. As always I’m deeply sorry for any mistakes and errors in this, it is not a beta-ed story. Constructive criticism is welcome! Thank you for reading!

Their bodies moved in a synchronized dance.

  
Their heated flesh met with unrelenting thrusts, hips bucking with quick, sharp movements that turned more erratic and wilder by the minute, losing all sense of tempo and rhythm, their breaths coming in short, panting gasps. A desperate final thrust, and their bodies went rigid, before collapsing in a boneless heap on the bed, breathless, skin glistering with perspiration.

Feeling a tremor running through his body, Stephen rested his head against Tony’s forehead, letting his entire weight fall on top of the other man, feeling sated and tired.

Tony let out a deep groan, his breath still coming in shortened gasps. He let his head fall back against the mattress and closed his eyes, enclosing the taller man on top of him on a loose hug. They stayed like that for a while, their wildly beating hearts regaining a slower rhythm, until their skin felt too cold and they decided to get under the covers.

Rearranging themselves, Tony rested his head on top of Stephen’s chest, mumbling something about Stephen’s merits as a lover that made the other man flush and let out a deep husky laugh. They stayed silent for a while.

Stephen could sense something was wrong with Tony, the man was usually a chatterbox, even during the most intimate of moments, this silence didn’t bode well with him.

“Is everything ok my love?” He said with a murmur, planting a small kiss on top of Tony’s head, caressing his shaking hand through the brunettes matted hair. With a deep sigh, Tony let himself savor the moment, the feeling of Stephen’s ministrations, their bodies pressed together underneath the covers, the comforting weight of Stephens arm on his back. He considered lying for a moment, not wanting to disturb this serenity he felt, but he knew better. With a resigned sigh, he decided it was better to let Stephen know what had been bothering him all afternoon.

“Steve finally found out about us... or at least he suspects as much. He’s presented an official complaint to Carol, citing ‘unethical’ behavior on my part for ‘establishing a relationship with one of my underlings’”

There were so many things wrong with that sentence that Stephen took a moment to take it all in. He could feel his anger rising, how dare that idiot make a complaint against Tony, that hypocrite star-spangled asshole!

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down, it wouldn’t help Tony if he lost his temper right now, the man was obviously upset, and the least he could do was try to comfort him, not add to his problems.

“Did Carol tell you?”

“She didn’t have to, I saw the entry she submitted to the system. She didn’t file it as an official report per se, but according to the procedures, she is forced to register all complaints so they can  
be looked into, although she did add a few interesting notes indicating that she did not consider the complaint valid, since the complainer didn’t present enough evidence to sustain his claims (I’m guessing Steve isn’t a 100% sure I’m going out with you), and something about considering future physiological assessment for Steve. I don’t think she took cap’s meddling very well”

That came as a surprise for Stephen, but he felt infinitely better knowing that Carol was a very impartial leader, and he knew she wouldn’t fall prey to any sort of manipulation on Steve’s behalf. “That wanker”, he said tightening his hold on Tony.

The other man let out a muffled laugh, effectively taking him out of his gloomy mood.

“Well, I really shouldn’t be that surprised. I knew he was bound to find something to blame me for sooner or later. I just thought he’d be smart enough not to go pestering Carol without solid evidence”

“Somehow, I don’t’ think foresight is Steve’s strongest point” Stephen said mockingly, while Tony let out a snort.

Sleep was quickly catching up to them, their earlier activities having left them feeling languid and tired. The last conscious thought Stephen had before drifting off to sleep was the sure knowledge that he’d do anything to protect Tony, no matter what.

 

* * *

 

Today was Peter’s birthday. The entire team had decided to throw a small party for the teenager, old and new members alike. Everyone seemed to have let go of past resentments, at least for the night, all for Peter. And surprisingly, they had all seemed to have a good time.

That was what Tony admired the most about the kid, despite all the horrible things he'd seen and endured, he radiated an excitement for life that was frankly catchy, anyone who ever came near him felt it. Peter was slowly becoming what held the team together, Tony was pretty sure of that, and if he were to admit it to himself, he was beyond proud of the kid.

Tony couldn’t suppress a grin as he watched Peter, who was wearing a paper hat on his head with the words ‘birthday boy’ on it. Dummy had given it to him, the bot had been so proud of presenting his gift to Peter, and the kid, bless his soul, had taken it with an awed expression, thanking the bot with a pat to its arm, and promising he'd wear it for the rest of the day. Tony felt his heart swell watching Peter interacting with dummy, the bot had been delighted, Tony knew. Even FRIDAY had joined the celebration, playing a happy-birthday song to Peter while the boy entered the common room, where everybody had gathered.

There had been lots of food, some cake (Hope had gotten a hold of a spider-man themed cake that had everyone in stitches, including a red-faced Peter) and even a couple of presents. The kid had been delighted.

Danny and Luke had been teasing him relentlessly, but Peter took it like a champ, mocking them as much as they did him. Even the stern Matt Murdock had stayed over for a while. The man was one of the few members that did not live at the compound, but he did regular visits to train with the team and would often be the first one to answer to any Avenger’s emergency whenever he was in town.

At one point during the party, Tony saw Peter and Wanda having a conversation, and judging by Peter’s face, they were arguing about something. Just as Tony was about to make his excuses to Hope, with whom he’d been having an interesting conversation, and head Peter’s way to make sure he was ok, Vision approached Wanda, taking her hand and making some excuse to Peter. Tony made a mental note to ask Peter about that later.

While he was getting himself some cake, Stephen saw Steve keeping a watchful eye on Tony. He had noticed the man had been insistently observing Tony throughout the evening. He had no idea what Steve was playing at, but it was taking him all his self-control not to lose his temper. He wasn’t a jealous man by nature, and he knew Tony felt nothing for the captain, but an irrational part of his brain kept insisting that he show Rogers that Tony was not to be messed with. Yielding to his impulse, he approached Tony, snaking an arm around the brunet’s back and whispering something in his ear, eliciting a surprised laugh from Tony.

He saw from the corner of his eye that Steve went red around the ears, taking his eyes quickly off the two of them. That confirmed Stephen’s suspicions, and he internally reveled on his little triumph over the captain. Stephen was aware that it wouldn’t be wise to indulge himself too much, but he decided he would have to keep tabs on the man from now on.

Tony had no idea how, but the others had convinced Stephen to join them on a game of magical tag. The sorcerer would open and close portals at random, while Sam, Clint, Danny, Luke, Scott and Peter would try to catch one another while simultaneously trying to guess which portal would open and which would close.

They almost made the game seem like an extreme sport, it was quite a spectacle to see a bunch of superheroes playing like kids, their cheerful shouts could be heard from one side of the room to the other, Peter's laughter resonating clearly throughout the ruckus. Jessica, Carol, Natasha, Wanda and Hope had then decided to join the game, making it a boy’s vs girls’ competition, with Tony, Rhodey, Steve, Matt, Vision and Bucky as spectators, cheering for both teams. In the end the girls had won with a crushing final score.

They decided to cut the party short after that, tomorrow would be a school day after all, and they didn’t want to keep Peter up too late. May had also told Tony that Peter’s friends where planning a surprise party for him, so Tony took it as his personal task to make sure Peter would get to his surprise party on time.

Peter had said his good byes to everyone, a big smile plastered on his youthful face, arms full of cake and the presents he’d gotten, with Happy escorting him to the exit.

 

* * *

 

“Sometimes I just can't stand her, she's always finding a way to bitch about things! And Mr. Stark. And the things Mr. Stark does” said Peter with a scowl on his face.

He and Ned where hanging out at Ned’s after school. They were both immersed putting together an enormous Millennium Falcon Lego set that Tony had gotten Peter for his birthday.  
  
“But isn’t Mr. Stark like, her boss?” Asked Ned without taking his eyes off the ship’s cockpit he was currently working on.

“What? No, Mr. Stark is not our boss, he’s our team leader. Well, I mean, Wanda is part of cap's team, so, you know...”

“Ahh, I see, gotcha”

“And she went through all the trouble of making me feel like a lame looser because of my present” he said while letting himself fall on Ned’s bed, arms crossed and a scowl firmly on place.

“Lame?! wtf?!! What is she talking about?? this thing is a collector’s edition!!” Ned felt personally insulted by that “I mean Mr. Stark didn't just get you any old set, he got you THE set” he said while waving around a tiny Han Solo figurine in his hand.

“Argh, I know, right??! I mean she comes and just says shit like that, and on my birthday!! and she kept throwing these snide comments about Mr. Stark, like, she basically told me that he was a cheapskate because he didn't get me something fancy and expensive!”

“Well... I’m sorry to break this to you Peter, but she's not wrong you know, you could've asked for pretty much anything you wanted” said Ned with a pensive face, the Cheetos’ dust covering his mouth made it a little hard to take him seriously.

“What? Ned! what are you talking about?”

“Well Peter, he's a billionaire, I mean, I don't think money is a problem with the guy” He said as a mater of fact. Sometimes he didn’t get how Peter could hang out with the Avengers, especially with Tony Stark, one of the world’s most famous people ever, and not let things get to his head. If it where him, he’d be taking full advantage of the benefits involved with being a superhero.

“Ned, you don't know what you're talking about, just because Mr. Stark's rich don’t mean he has to share his money with me or anyone else, besides... I don't know, it'd be weird, I'd feel like I'd be a freeloader, that I was only his friend because I expected him to buy me nice things or something”

“Dude, if you were a girl, that sentence would've sounded sooo wrong” he let out an amused and goofy snort.

“What? Oh dude!! your gross!!!” Peter said with a disgusted face. They both laughed at Ned's awful sugar daddy joke, while Peter punched Ned’s arm lightly for having such a terrible sense of humor.

“Well, you’re the one who said it!”

  
Sobering up, Peter continued “Anyways, I think her comments really got to me because she just doesn’t get it you know? It wasn’t the present on itself that I liked (I mean I loved it, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not what I’m trying to get at here), it was the fact that Mr. Stark remembered it. I mean I told him about it like, months ago! Remember when we saw the review on that blog?”

“Yeah, that was ages ago!”

“Exactly! I showed it to Mr. Stark back then. I thought he had just seen it to humor me, but I honestly didn’t expect him to remember, you know?” He let out a deep sigh, pushing his hands through his wild hair “I think it’s really neat that he actually pays attention to the things I tell him”

“Wow, that’s actually pretty neat! Sometimes my own mom forgets when I tell her things, like when I asked her to leave a spare key because I lost mine, and I spent every afternoon for a week locked out because she kept forgetting” Ned said with a little whine “But whatever. Hey, listen, you HAVE to tell me more about the new guys Peter! you said you were gonna tell me!” he said with a serious expression. Peter felt a twinge of guilt at that. With the Avengers business and trainings, superheroing and school, Peter had been neglecting Ned completely, they hadn’t had a good talk in a long time, but the good Ned was always there for him, and he was more than grateful for having such a good friend.

“I... sure, but there’s not much to tell besides what you already know I guess? I mean, the new guys, we train together and stuff, but they’re just a bunch of pretty common people once you get to know them”

“’Pretty common people’, Peter, do you hear what you’re saying? These dudes have superpowers for god’s sake!!!” Ned was looking at him with an incredulous face.

“I... well, I know, but they’re not in ‘superhero mode’ all the time you know?” he said trying to find the right words to describe the people he’d been interacting with for months now. “I mean, there’s this guy, M... I mean, Daredevil, he’s a... let’s just say he has a day job, and the guy just goes about his business like normal. The other day he was telling me about how he hated to take the bus to go to work. What I’m trying to say is, some of these guys have normal jobs, or basically do normal things when they’re not doing superhero stuff”

“Woah imagine if you had a job, and your boss was mean to you, you could just glue him to a wall with your webs” Ned said while mimicking gluing someone to a wall with imaginary web strings, while making some ‘pew’ ‘pew’ sounds.

“Hahaha Ned, I think that would automatically get me sacked, besides, I like keeping my identity secret”

“I guess you’re right, you probably wouldn’t get a Christmas bonus for doing that either”

“No, probably not. Let me see, who else is there? There's this awesome sorcerer, his name is Dr. Strange, you’ve seen him around right?”

“Yeah, the guy with the red cape! Although he doesn’t show up much in the news”

“Guess what? Strange is not just his superhero name, his name is literally Dr. Stephen Strange”

“For real?! That’s wicked!!! And what are his powers like? Does he do like, magic tricks or... I mean, flying is a pretty nifty trick”

“Hahaha dude no, he's a sorcerer not a magician, he does these weird hand movements and he can conjure like weapons and open portals and stuff, he can even enter other dimensions and shit, and he’s a pretty good fighter too”

Peter said while doing some of the movements he had seen Stephen do to conjure his weapons.

“Awesome!!”

“Yeah, he's also a pretty chill guy once you get to know him. There's also Luke Cage” he said while counting down with his fingers and sitting back on Ned’s bed “That guy is super rad, his skin is like impenetrable, so he can stop bullets without breaking a sweat, I heard he's basically indestructible”

“Duuude, sweet!!”

“And there's his wife, she’s like super strong!! and she can fly too, she’s a real badass”

“Hot badass?”

“Ned!”

“What?”

“Well, yes, hot bad ass, but you know, his HUSBAND is like really intimidating, like, terminator intimidating”

“Schwarzenegger or Worthington?”

“No, like in the original young terminator”

“Oh, right, scary then”

“Yup. Let’s see, there's this other guy, his name is Ironfist, and he's sort of like a ninja with magical powers. He can channel mystical powers through his fist and he’s almost as flexible as me”

“A magic ninja?? sweet!! So, his powers are like magic and Kung-Fu? Awesome!!”

“Haha dude... anyway, there's also Captain Marvel, she’s also our leader, and she’s pretty much another powerhouse, and let me tell you, she can really pack a punch! Last time we were training she sent Luke trough a wall, it was amazing!”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her, she’s hot!!”

Peter eyed his friend with an exasperated expression. “Yeah, dude whatever, but just so you know, she's military, so she’s super strict”

“Ohh...right”

“And there's also The Wasp”

“She’s also hot!”

“Dude!! stop it!! yes!! they're all hot! it's like, they’re all goddesses, I know!” Peter said with a pleading tone.

“Dude, I'd seriously kill to be in your shoes for a day, so I could...”

“Nah man, quit it, besides, they all treat me like a kid, like they were my aunts or sisters or something”

“Dude, so not cool!”

“Yeah, everyone except Captain Marvel, she's more like a drill sergeant” “Damn, I feel bad for you”

“Hahaha, but I thought you wanted to be in my shoes”

“Well yeah, but only to check out the babes, not to do drill exercises and stuff”

"’Check out the babes’ dude you've got some serious problems!” Said Peter with a laugh. It felt incredible to be able to talk to Ned again, he promised himself he would try and keep in touch with him more often.

They stayed in a companionable silence for a while, until Peter spoke again “You know, I think that's why I don't really like him”

“Hmm? who?” said Ned distractedly, he had resumed putting together the Lego set.

“Captain America”

“Dude! you've got to be kidding me, that guy is like, a national icon!”

“Well, perhaps, but I mean, it’s the way he acts sometimes you know? Like he’s always judging what we do”

“Well, maybe it's because he’s Captain America, and he’s been avenging longer than the rest of you?”

“Well, he’s no longer the team leader, so he really shouldn’t have that attitude, it’s all I’m saying” “Maybe that’s what he’s mad about, maybe he wants to be the leader again”

“I...no, I don’t think it's that, it's more like, I don't know, like he feels like the team owes him something?” Peter said, not sure how to best express what he felt “I feel like he’s very hard on Mr. Stark, most times he won’t say things out loud, but you can just tell he’s not on board with things, I...I don’t know how to put it into words”

Ned gave him an encouraging smile “You mean like, maybe Captain America feels Mr. Stark owes him something?”

“Maybe? I really don’t know. I used to think the guy was great, being one of the greatest heroes and all that, but, now that I’ve gotten to know him, there’s just something I don’t like about him” Peter said sadly. He thought back on how excited he’d been to work with his childhood heroes, and how disappointed he had been to realize they were all human beings with flaws, pretty much like him.


	12. Phone call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I've noticed you've been watching Tony a lot these last few days, is something wrong? are you guys fighting again?”
> 
> Steve immediately felt heat rise to his cheeks, he didn't think anyone would have noticed him watching Tony.
> 
> Or
> 
> Sam tries to talk some sense into Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some steamy things going on on this chapter. I tried to make myself write something hot, but I really couldn’t write anything more explicit. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter! As always thank you so much for your kind comments!

Steve sat in a darkened room, staring at the night sky through the large glass panels that stood from floor to ceiling.

The room was silent, and if he closed his eyes he could almost imagine himself back at his old apartment. He felt a pang of sadness, he longed for his old life back, even the days when he first ran with the Avengers seemed so happy compared to his current situation.

For months now, he’d been swept in a whirl of events that he had no control over, so many things had happened at once and in such a short amount of time that he felt completely overwhelmed. He felt like his mind couldn’t yet comprehend where it all had gone so wrong. He so desperately wanted to get his footing back, to get back on top of things, and yet he couldn’t figure out how to do it.

He had a lot on his mind lately, and for the last couple of days he had been shying away from the rest of his team. He didn’t feel like talking to anyone... or almost anyone. He’d been meaning to talk to Tony for a while now. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he needed to settle things with the brunet, as if getting Tony to talk to him again would somehow help things get back on track. He wasn’t sure how, but in his mind, Tony was a crucial piece for him to get his life back together.

He was suddenly brought back from his reverie when he heard a knock on the door.

With a sigh, he spoke to the person on the other side “Come on in, it’s unlocked”

He heard a soft click and the door opened slowly, revealing a squinting Sam on the other side “Hey Steve, are you ok? It’s dark in here”

With a soft smile, Steve welcomed the man. He had been wondering when anyone would come looking for him.

“Yeah, sorry, I just felt like having a quite moment, is everything alright?”  
Sam stood awkwardly at the door, but he seemed determined, so he entered the room and closed the door behind himself, making his way to where Steve was siting.

“Yeah, everything’s, fine, I just wanted to check on you, see how you were doing”

“I’m fine Sam, thanks, I just have a lot on my mind right now”

Sam sat on the opposite chair from Steve, the darkness made it hard to make out Steve’s features, but by the sound of his voice, Sam could tell Steve was far from fine.

“Is there anything I can help you with? Is there anything you want to talk about?” he offered with as much kindness as he could muster. He felt a great respect for the man, and they had all noticed him been uncharacteristically quite for the last couple of days.

Sam knew the Captain had received several hard blows these past few months, but it was the first time he had actually seen the man looking down.

Sam had the distinct feeling that Steve had come back thinking everything would go back to normal. While they had been in hiding, Steve had told them over and over that things would work out just fine, that they just had to stick together and have faith (in what or whom he had never disclosed). At the time Sam thought Steve said all those things to keep everyone’s spirits up, but now that he really thought about it, he came to realize Steve actually thought all the countries, and the public in general would forget the things they had done, and most importantly, that Tony would simply welcome them back with open arms.

Looking how, day by day, Steve came to realize that nothing would ever be the same was frankly heart wrenching. Steve was a shadow of the once confident man he had met. The repercussions of his actions and decisions had finally caught up to him, but even now, Sam wasn’t sure Steve fully grasped the enormity of what they had all done, and of the roll he had played as their leader.

“I... thanks Sam, but I’m not even sure what to tell you, I don’t know exactly what I’m feeling myself” Steve said with a sad smile. It was mostly true. He was so confused as to what he was feeling that he wouldn’t even know where to begin.

“We can talk about anything you want, just know that I’m here if you need me”

The offer made Steve’s throat tighten for a moment. He thanked the lord he still had a couple of good friends who cared for him.

It took him a moment to answer, but he finally managed to get out a low “thank you Sam”

They both stayed silent for a moment. Steve didn’t seem inclined to speak, but there was something that had been bothering Sam for the last couple of days, and he decided this was as good a time as ever to ask Steve about it.“Hey Steve, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I... I've noticed you've been...” and here Sam didn't know how to best describe the way Steve had behaved the last couple of weeks, he thought ‘stalking’ was too strong a word, so he settled on something kinder “you've been closely watching Tony these last few days, is something wrong? are you guys fighting again?”

Steve immediately felt heat rise to his cheeks, he didn't think anyone would have noticed him watching Tony.

“I...no, we're not fighting...” Steve felt a pang of sadness, because Tony and he didn’t fight anymore, they didn't even talk to each other any longer. It was as if Tony had cut him off completely from his life. Sure, they were still team mates, but outside the training grounds or missions, it was as if they were strangers.

“Then what is it?” Sam insisted. He knew whatever it was, it was eating at Steve, he could tell.  
Steve didn’t know how to answer to that, he himself didn’t know what was it that drove him to keep seeking Tony out. “I'm not sure Sam... I guess I'm worried about Tony doing something dangerous”

“What do you mean something dangerous?”

Steve couldn’t answer, he didn’t even know what he had meant by that.

“Steve, is this... is this about Tony being gay? Are you still thinking about that?”

Sam’s bewildered tone made Steve feel ashamed. Was that really what was bothering him? That Tony had been gay all this time and he hadn’t told him? He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he felt betrayed somehow. Steve thought about it, and finally, he decided to open to Sam, the man was good at giving advice, perhaps he could help Steve untangle all his worries, so he could finally find some peace of mind.

“Sam, I... I don’t know, I just want things with Tony to go back to the way they used to”

Sam gave a deep sigh, he couldn’t force Steve to recognize his own feelings, but at least he was getting the man to talk.

Barnes had told him what had happened at the bunker back in Siberia, he had been horrified to discover the truth about the fight that had taken place between the three of them. But he had noticed Steve had kept quiet about it, he hadn’t even once mentioned it to the others, always making some excuse whenever someone asked him about it. He was pretty certain that Steve had never even tried to approach Tony to apologize for the things that had gone down between them.

“Have you tried to talk to Tony about any of this?”

“Yes!! I’ve been trying to get Tony to talk to me, but he keeps being difficult, he won’t listen to anything I tell him”

Sam was starting to get a picture of what had been going on. “Steve, tell me something, have you tried apologizing to Tony at some point? Not just get him to listen to you”

Steve seemed partly annoyed and partly surprised by his question “Of course I’ve tried! I wrote him a letter! I told him I was sorry for not telling him about Bucky, and that the Avengers were his, and that I’d be there for him whenever he needed me, I even sent him a phone, so he could call if there was any threat and the Avengers needed to come back”

“Steve, I don’t know how to tell you this, but that doesn’t sound like a good apology, at all...”

Steve was momentarily stumped by this

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, Barnes told me about what happened with Starks parents” Sam could see Steve flinch a little at the mention of that, and seeing he was about to interrupt him he continued “We all know Bucky wasn’t responsible for his actions back then, trust me, I know it, but still, it’s something you don’t just phrase like ‘by the way, sorry for not telling you your parents’ murderer was my friend’. It just doesn’t sound as meaningful as you might think it does. You have to consider that it was something very traumatic for Tony, I mean, you can see from a mile that the guy has some very strong issues, it wouldn’t surprise me if they stemmed from the fact that he lost his parents at an early age”

The discussion he’d had with Tony all those months ago came to Steve’s mind, Tony had practically told him the same. He had told him that he had shown no compassion for his parent’s deaths, that Steve hadn’t really cared for Tony’s grief and suffering. Once again, he felt ashamed, he had thought Tony would overcome their disagreement sooner or later, but he was coming to the conclusion that there were some things that were not so easy to forget or forgive.

Sam was talking again, so he made an effort to listen to what the other man was saying “...furthermore, by implying that the Avengers were Tony’s, you were technically telling him that you were not a part of that any longer. You have to realize that with your actions you showed Tony that you cared more about your friend than you did about any other thing.”

He could see Steve was having a hard time hearing all these hard truths, but he knew the man needed to hear them. “Now, I’m not telling you you were wrong in protecting Barnes, but I’m trying to help you understand the way Tony might have interpreted your actions”

“From what I’ve heard, you might have escalated the fight between Tony and Bucky instead of stopping it. By antagonizing Tony and fighting him alongside Barnes, all you did was blow things out of proportion. Maybe at the time you didn’t see another way out, but I’m sure Tony took it as a betrayal. You might not agree with me, but you have to at least recognize what that must have meant for Tony”

Steve wanted to protest, but he fell silent. He knew he hadn’t acted the best way, that he had let a lot of people down, including himself.

“Now, I believe that there’s another part of your letter that might have upset Tony, and that is the phone you said you sent him. It gives me the distinct feeling that you thought you were offering an olive branch to Tony, am I right?” he asked Steve

“I... well yes, pretty much” he said uncomfortably

“Well, has it occurred to you that Tony might have seen it as condescending? As if you were trying to show him you were the better man, that you were willing to put everything behind you, EXPECTING Tony to do the same?”

Steve was amazed at how Sam could tell exactly what he had been thinking. He had thought it was only the right thing to do to offer Tony a way to contact him if he needed him, and if he where honest with himself, he really did believe he was being the mature one by contacting Tony first. This was all a mess, he was starting to understand that what he thought was just Tony being an immature jerk actually reflected how deeply affected the man was.

“But he accepted us back, he’s been helping us with the council and everything else, I don’t get these mixed signals he keeps sending me. If he has forgiving us, then why does he keep acting so cold?”

Finally, Sam understood. If he was interpreting things correctly, Steve thought Tony was playing with him, that he was somehow leading Steve on. And wasn’t that a worrying thought.

“Steve, pal, I think you’re the one that is mixing things up. The fact that Tony is helping us does not mean he has forgiven you. And even if he has, he is in no way obliged to re-establish any sort of bond with any of us. Simply put, you cannot force him to be your friend again if he doesn’t want to, Steve”

That came as an unexpected blow for Steve. But things couldn’t stay the way they were forever, surely Tony would have to come to his senses at some point and realize that Steve hadn’t meant to harm him in any way, that they could go back to the way they once were. Steve still considered Tony a friend, how could he not? The fact that they were a part of the Avengers again was evidence enough for him that Tony still cared for them, it was just a matter of time for the man to realize it himself.

Sam could see Steve had a lot to think about, and honestly, he was mentally exhausted. He had been trained as a counselor, true, but this was frankly out of his expertise. He really wanted Steve to get some professional help, but he decided that would be something he would have to suggest at another time, right now, he felt content explaining to Steve he couldn’t expect the others to forgive him just by sheer willpower. If the man wanted to follow his advice was another thing, but he really hoped Steve would at least learn to consider other people ́s points of view, not only his own.

 

* * *

 

 

Stephen and Tony were working together in his lab. Stephen’s idea to set up a protective spell around earth that would alert them of any imminent threat or attack had given Tony some ideas on how they could build a defense system at a large scale. The Chitauri invasion still haunted his dreams, and he was hell bent on not letting something like that get past him ever again.

He knew the Chitauri hadn’t been stationed in this galaxy, that the portal they had used to get to earth had opened up to somewhere far away, but with Stephen’s help they would try to make sure no threat like that would reach earth ever again. Basically, Stephen’s spell worked as a repellent. He had explained to Tony (with a lot of magical terms) that it would essentially prevent portals from outer space to open up on earth. He decided to call it a magic firewall, he knew Stephen hated the name, but he had gone along with it none the less.

That still left them with the problem of what to do if a physical threat came to their front door, and a fleet of space ships attacked them directly. With that scenario in mind he was developing a series of nanotech based pods that would serve as exploration and surveillance sentinels. He planed on deploying them past the many satellites that surrounded earth and beyond the moon, and, if he could develop the technology, further away still, so they could have a clearer knowledge of what was out there.

From the beginning he had found it almost impossible to develop something that would serve as a real-time surveillance system, as the pod drifted into space, the signal it sent back would take longer and longer to reach earth, and he knew time would be of upmost importance once they detected something. Fortunately for him, Stephen had come up with a clever idea for how to solve this with one word: magic. As much as he hated the idea that magic could solve something technology couldn’t, he was willing to set aside his mistrust for the mystical and embrace the opportunity to build something that brought together the best of both words, so to speak.

They were in the process of imbuing the little pod with a series of spells that would aid it to withstand space’s harsh environment, and at the same time, it would help it send a signal strong enough to be picked up from earth, no matter the distance. So far, they were making slow progress, but they were sure that with some refining they could build something extraordinary.

Stephen and Tony greatly enjoyed working together, each discovering a different facet of the other. It was fascinating to discover a side of their relationship they hadn’t previously considered.

If a year ago someone had told Tony he would be mixing his technology with magic, he would have laughed at their face. And yet, here he was, building a quartz cover for his pod, because it helped the magic field get a better grasp to the wiring.

Working together with Stephen had made Tony realize that one of the things he most enjoyed about the man was his intellect. He could keep up with him on most topics, it was a relief working with someone with whom he could communicate his ideas without having to explain himself all the time. Stephen seemed to take his leaps in logic in stride, figuring them out and surprising him with his own elaborate deductions.

They had also been using Tony’s lab to do some research of another variety. Tony liked to call them their little stamina experiments. Stephen just laughed at the man’s bad puns, but he secretly loved it none the less. Although they were more careful about their experiments since Peter had almost caught them red handed, with Stephen’s well-timed portal saving them from an embarrassing moment, but the excitement had only served to fuel their lust. That day they had had the most intense sex of their entire lives, and that was saying something coming from Tony.

Right now, they were finishing up their work on the pods, and Stephen couldn’t keep his hands to himself any longer.

With a confident smirk, he embraced Tony from behind, letting a small trail of kisses fall alongside the man’s neck. He could see Tony’s skin rise in goosebumps, he loved how he could elicit that sort of reaction from Tony simply by laying his hands on him. He could already picture Tony’s flushed and panting face, the image stirring his lust and making him become half hard. He had become quite adept at extracting the most exquisite of moans from the man, and he was eager to lay his hands all over Tony’s bare skin. Just as he was letting Tony know exactly what was on his mind, they heard a faint beep from FRIDAY.

“Sorry to interrupt boss, but Mr. Steve Rogers has been calling you all afternoon. I have tried to convince him to call at a more... convenient time, but he refuses to hang up this time. Should I disconnect the call?”

With a sigh, Tony rubbed at his face. He could see from the corner of his eye the skeptical glance Stephen threw his way. Talking to Steve was not on the top of his priorities right now, not with the firm hold Stephen had on his hip and his own need begging to be satiated. But he knew Steve would keep calling him until he answered, and, as a team leader, he was forced to make himself available to any team member at any time, the last thing he wanted to do was give Steve another reason to complain about him.

“It’s ok FRIDAY, put him through, voice only” they both stayed still during the couple of seconds it took for the call to connect.

“Hello? Tony? Are you there?”

Suppressing a sigh, Tony tried to cover the exasperation in his voice “Yes Rogers, it’s me, is there anything I can help you with?” He noticed that Stephen hadn’t taken his hands away from his hips, he was still positioned just behind him, he could feel the heat radiating form him through the fabric of his t-shirt, and the sensation made him shudder, he hoped whatever the captain wanted would be quick, he certainly had plans for his evening.

“I... I was wondering if I could have a quick word with you? I know you’re busy, but there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while”

Tony felt Stephen’s hands roam trough his body, they were coming dangerously close to his belt buckle, and the sudden realization made a part of him stir with desire.

“I’m sorry Steve, I’m quite busy at the time, is this an emergency of some kind?”

He suddenly felt his pants go slack around his waist, Stephen had managed to unzip them, and he felt a tug. The realization that Stephen wanted to touch him while he was on the phone was beyond intoxicating, he relented to Stephen’s insistent tugs and splayed his legs a little, so the man could have full access to whatever he desired.

“No! it’s not an emergency! I just wanted to talk to you about... about something important”

He could hear a rustle behind him, and he knew it meant Stephen was not kidding around. The sudden feeling of flesh on flesh made his desire flame on his lower belly, he was really struggling to keep his voice even.

“Something important? Ok, we can discuss whatever is bothering you at a more convenient time, right now, I really must go”

Stephen’s thrusts were becoming more insistent, he really needed to end this call before he lost control.

“Yeah, ok, thanks Tony! When can we...?”

Stephen was biting down on Tony’s neck and the man really couldn’t take it anymore.

“FRIDY will let you know, ok? Bye!”

Steve heard the silence on the other line, FRIDAY must have disconnected his call. He had the feeling that Tony’s voice had been a bit off, but he guessed the man had really been occupied with something That brought a smile to his face, if the man still regarded him as important enough to take his calls when he was busy, it surely meant he could talk some sense into Tony, he was confident that they could work out whatever problems were still between the two of them, and that things would slowly come back to normal.


	13. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tony, you have to understand! YOU are the reason that I came back, I couldn’t bear to stay away from you!!” he blurted out.
> 
> Or
> 
> Steve finally confesses his feelings towards Tony.

Stephen wasn’t sure what had overcome him.

He was currently sprawled on the lab’s cold floor with his pants tangled around his ankles, sweat and other body fluids rapidly cooling over his exposed skin, he was exhausted and with a semi-nude and panting Tony at his side. He insisted on believing that he wasn’t a jealous man, but his actions spoke for themselves. He knew he was playing at a dangerous game, and if he wasn’t careful he could end up hurting not only himself, but Tony as well. He had practically ravished Tony while he was on the phone with Steve. If that wasn’t a blatant display of jealousy, he didn’t know what it was.

However, his possessive side grunted with approval, after all, Tony hadn’t seemed to mind. He knew his lover had enjoyed himself greatly, but he couldn’t kid himself any longer, he did not like Tony receiving any sort of attentions from the captain. He understood it was an irrational behavior, and once again he chastised himself for acting so inappropriately. But right now, he decided he could bask in the afterglow of his passion for a little while longer.

For his part Tony didn’t know what to feel. Part of him felt elated that Stephen showed him such a raw side of himself, he wouldn’t have thought the doctor capable of displaying such intense emotions, but it was plainly obvious that Stephen was doing his best to restrain himself from cursing Steve into next week. The other part of him felt preoccupied, he didn’t want this situation to get out of control. He decided the best would be to talk to both Stephen and Rogers, and make sure both men would behave around each other. He didn’t look forward to that conversation, but he guessed the sooner he took care of it, the better.

The fact that Tony had to worry about his current lover getting in a fight with a teammate gave him a headache. He simply didn’t understand where Steve was coming from with this obsessive behavior all of a sudden. He still couldn’t believe he had presented a complaint against him, it was preposterous. And the fact that the soldier wouldn’t stop watching him was getting on Tony’s nerves. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that Steve was in love with him, and that was definitely something he didn’t want to duel on, lest he gave himself an aneurism.

Helping each other get up, Stephen and Tony decided to call it a night. They took a quick shower using the lab’s bathroom, the shower stall was frankly too small for both men to fit comfortably, but they had fun maneuvering around each other under the water spray. Afterwards, they had decided to take a quick bite before going to bed.

Tony noticed that Stephen seemed reluctant to leave his side, he was cuddlier than usual, embracing him whenever he had the chance, not really caring the other people around them.

They didn’t usually refrain from showing their affection in public or in front of the other Avengers, but then again, they weren’t especially affectionate or flashy with their demonstrations of love, a discrete peck on the lips, a quick embrace or holding hands were their usual standard in front of the others.

Tony didn’t particularly mind this new display of affection, but it struck him as odd. Perhaps it was Stephens way to ask for some reassurance, and Tony was more than happy to oblige.

After dinner, Tony had been ready to say goodbye to Stephen. So far, they hadn’t really talked about any particular sleeping arrangements. Tony knew Stephen was constantly needed at the Sanctum Santorum, and he himself was needed at the compound, so they rarely spent the night together. Occasionally, they made an exception, Tony would spend a night or two at the sanctum whenever he could take the time off, but Stephen rarely stayed at the compound. Parallelly, Stephen loved coming over for breakfast, so Tony felt this arrangement worked perfectly for both of them, because either way, they both made the effort to see each other almost constantly.

But, tonight was different, he could tell Stephen was reluctant to go back to the sanctum, so Tony saw no problem with him staying over. After dinner they had said their goodbyes to the others and made their way up to Tony’s room.

Tony noted something seemed off with the doctor, Stephen was usually rather suave and charming whenever they were alone, but tonight he seemed a bit chastised somehow, and Tony was at a loss as to what to make of it. Looking at the man sitting on the edge of the bed with a sad expression on his face made Tony want to reach out to him.

“Hey, sugarplum, is everything alright? You seem worried” Tony let his hand caress Stephen’s face. The other leant in on the touch, seeking Tony’s warmth.

Without letting go of Tony’s hand, Stephen spoke in a low whisper “I’m sorry Tony, I have behaved like a stupid jealous school boy, please forgive me”

Tony was rather surprised by Stephens confession. It was true he had noticed his lover’s jealousy, but it didn’t occur to him that Stephen felt bad about it. He was not used to people asking for his forgiveness, he was generally the one apologizing for anything and everything.

This was something he wasn’t sure how to handle, but he felt an unexpected wave of love and affection for this man sitting in front of him, asking for his forgiveness for a small faux pas that he hadn’t really considered Stephen would care to apologize for.

“Hey, come here, it’s alright honey, don’t sweat about it” Tony wanted nothing more than to take away the preoccupied look on Stephen’s face. He bent down and showered him with small butterfly kisses, trying to ease his worried frown.

“I have behaved very poorly, I promise I’ll do my best to not let this happen again my love” Stephen said against Tony’s chest. He held on very tightly to Tony’s back, not wanting to let go of this man that had become such an important part of his life.

Tony returned the embrace, placing a hand behind Stephen’s head and using the other to caress the man’s salt and pepper hair. They stayed like that for a while, until Stephen laid them both down on the bed. They proceeded to snuggle against each other, not really needing any words to understand and comfort each other.

 

* * *

 

“James, do you think Steve will realize he has feelings for Tony anytime soon?” Natasha asked Bucky with a raised eyebrow. They were cuddling in her bed, their naked bodies covered with a thin bedsheet.

They had just returned from an Accords issued mission, where they had been investigating some leads that indicated that a terrorist cell had been developing a chemical toxin that was capable of turning its victims into deranged beings with superhuman strength. The terrorists were seemingly part of A.I.M., the company that Aldrich Killian had funded to create Extremis, and that Iron man had helped to take down and dismantle a couple of years back.

Bucky and Natasha had discovered that one of its lead scientists, a man by the name of Darius Montalvo, had escaped from the authority’s radars. Their intel showed that he had collected the research left behind by Killian, and that over the past 4 years he had developed his own Extremis formula. They had also discovered that the toxin used by Darius was the same toxin Tony had identified back in Nepal, on the abandoned lab he and Strange had come across. According to Stark’s recount, the creatures he had encountered displayed superhuman strength and speed, and seemed to have high rationale capabilities, but lacked any ability to communicate through speech.

The Avengers and the Nepal authorities had been cooperating to learn as much as they could of the genetic experiments that had taken place in that lab, and to apprehend the madman responsible for it, but so far, Darius had proven to be extremely elusive. Natasha had only recently been able to establish a connection between this new Extremis virus and Darius. Although they had heard rumors that the man was planning an imminent attack at a larger scale.

Natasha and Bucky had not found any more leads so far, so there was nothing left to do but wait for the man to make his move.

“I don’t think Steve has realized he is in love with the man” came Bucky’s reply. He had been worried about his friend for a while, and now he had enough evidence to suspect that his friend had a thing for Stark. Sam had told him about the talk he and Steve had had a couple of days ago. That idiot, he really should know better, especially since Stark was with the wizard.

“This is going to be troublesome for the team” Natasha said with a detached tone. She had been watching from afar the apparent love triangle that was developing between those three idiots. She had been much more concerned with Wanda’s and Vision’s relationship. The Witch was, in her opinion, a very unstable person with an enormous power at her disposal, and Vision was almost a child, the android was only a couple of years old after all, but apparently, he was emotionally mature enough to keep the witch in line. She never thought Steve would be the one she would have to worry about.

“Yeah, probably” came James response. He really didn’t want to discuss his friend’s sexuality, but he was aware that the situation had the potential to become something dangerous, and fast.

“Are you worried about him finding out about us?” Natasha’s change of subject was a relieve for Bucky.

“Not really, he’s one of my oldest friends, but I won’t let him have a say on whom I can be with or not” For Bucky, it was that simple. Steve and he went a long way back, but they were both grown men. Even if Steve sometimes didn’t want to face it, they were not the same persons they were from back in the old days. He still valued Steve’s friendship, but he had other priorities in his life, and keeping appearances and pretenses for the benefit of Steve was not on his priority list.

“How romantic of you” she said with a teasing grin.

“I’ve always been a romantic at heart sweetheart” his wicked grin matched hers.

“He’s going to have a talk with Tony tomorrow, we’ll have to wait and see how that turns out” she said with a frown.

She really wasn’t looking forward to a heartbroken Steve.

“Yeah, I don’t reckon it’s gonna be good, but I’ll be there for him”

“You’re a good friend” she said with an unreadable face

“Not really, but I try my best” he said with a huff. He still had a soft spot for that idiot, and he would do whatever he could to help Steve get back on track.

 

* * *

 

 

Steve wasn’t entirely sure why, but he felt incredibly nervous.

He’d been analyzing the whole situation for weeks now, and he always came to the same conclusion. He wanted Tony back into his life. He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but he was starting to figure it out.

He had never confessed it to anyone, but growing up, he hadn’t been particularly interested in girls. He had attributed his lack of a love life to being small and lanky. He knew girls liked tall, strong men, so he had resigned himself from very early on to the idea that he might not get to be with anyone.

Once he had become Captain America, things had radically changed. Suddenly, he attracted everyone’s attention. He knew both males and females were drawn to him, but he had been too stumped to really do anything about it. Peggy had been the only one that had tried to be his friend, so he felt the only right thing to do was to return her attentions. He considered her his first love, but there hadn’t really been much opportunity to engage in anything more intimate than a kiss.

Sharon Carter had been his second attempt at love, she had been his first time, but he wasn’t entirely sure he had enjoyed it. He felt like he had only gone with it to prove to himself that he could have a normal life. He wasn’t completely oblivious, he knew there was a chance that he was gay, but from a very young age he had been taught that homosexuality was a sin, that it was not normal. He now understood that those were prejudices that had been mostly eradicated in this day and age, but it was hard to shake off the beliefs that he had been brought up with.

But he felt his confusion with his sexuality didn’t stem from any religious beliefs, but from his lack of understanding himself. He was desperate to comprehend his own feelings, because as much as he wanted, they didn’t make sense to him. He felt like he was only attracted to people that had a strong and meaningful connection to him, and it made him feel like he couldn’t differentiate between friendship and attraction, which terrified him.

He also couldn’t deny his fascination with Tony, from the very beginning, he had been drawn to the man, but he had always been too afraid to try anything. Although he had slowly come to recognize that all the tension between them had probably originated from his pent-up sexual frustrations. He had repressed his needs so deeply that he hadn’t really learnt to recognize them, until he had seen Tony with Stephen. A horrible monster had awoken inside of him the moment he saw them together. No matter how he wanted to justify it, he knew what it was: he was jealous of Stephen, jealous of how happy Tony and he seemed together, of how carefree they seemed, unafraid of what others thought of them, uncaring of what society might label them as. And he desperately wanted something like that for him.

He had tried to pass his jealousness as concern for the team, but he knew it had deceived no one. He was embarrassed of what the others might think of him, afraid that they would reject him for his preferences, so he had continued to deny himself the truth. He had even tried to convince himself that all he wanted was Tony’s friendship, that it would be enough to satisfy his needs, but he now knew it wasn’t nearly enough.

He was aware that his chances with Tony were slim to none. He saw how happy he was with Stephen, but he just couldn’t help it, he had to at least give it a shot, and he thought the honest thing to do was to let Tony know how he felt about him. Maybe he would finally forgive him, and maybe with time, they could become closer once again.

He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but it was becoming increasingly harder not to, especially when Tony had finally contacted him to make an appointment, so they could talk. For the past hour he had been rehearsing the things he would say. He now understood where he had gone wrong with him, he understood he had hurt the man, but he was ready to let all that be water under the bridge, and he was sure Tony would understand him. Tony was a good man, he had to forgive him for his mistakes sooner or later. He knew he had wronged him, but now was his chance, he would make everything right this time.

 

* * *

 

 

Steve had been waiting outside Tony’s office for the last fifteen minutes. When he arrived, FRIDAY had informed him that he was in a meeting with a couple of the accord’s council members. Just as he was losing his patience, he heard a click coming from the door, and several men and women dressed in severe business suits left the office. Tony bid farewell to them and stood at the door. He was smartly dressed in a black three-piece suit, he had a shark smile on and he radiated a confidence that made Steve’s heart race. He was surprised to see this side of Tony again, he was not used to seeing him in his business mode anymore, and it made him realize just how much time they had spent apart.

The man in question suddenly turned his way and addressed him with a curt nod “Steve, sorry for the wait, come on in”

Without waiting for an answer, Tony entered back into the office with long and secure strides, where he sat back down behind his impressive desk. Steve stayed rooted at the door for a moment, but quickly caught on and entered, closing the door behind him. He sat in one of the empty chairs in front of the desk, suddenly very nervous to be so close to Tony.

“So, tell me, what is this you wanted to discuss with me” he asked without preamble.

“I... I feel like I owe you an apology” Steve said with an uncertain tone.

“Hmm, really? Regarding anything specific?” came Tony’s dry response. He was getting tired of Steve wasting his time, he wished the man would really tell him something of importance for once.

Tony’s response caught Steve off guard. Suddenly, he didn’t know what to say, in his head, he had scripted things to go differently, and now he wasn’t sure where to begin “I’m trying to apologize for all the harm I’ve done to you Tony” came his imploring tone “I have given it a lot of thought, and I now realize that I acted unfairly towards you. It’s like you told me, I didn’t show you enough empathy for the death of your parents...”

“Murder”

“What?” Steve had to make a double take at that.

With a bored expression Tony sat further back on his chair, his fingers drumming over the wood on his desk “My parents were murdered Steve, they didn’t simply die, but please, go on”

Steve felt incredibly uncomfortable at Tony’s words. This was definitely not going as he had planned, but he decided he wouldn’t discuss Howard’s death with Tony any longer, it was a subject that had already caused the two of them too much friction.

Trying to get his momentum back, he continued “I’m sorry I lied to you, I now realize how hypocrite that was of me, especially since I accused you of lying to me about Ultron. It was never my intention to hurt you. We were both under a lot of stress, and neither of us acted the way we should have”

Tony was having a hard time holding his tongue, but he was curious now as to how much bullshit Steve could spit out before he lost his patience.

Steve didn’t detect any reaction to his words, so he decided to continue “I’m sorry it took me so long to apologize. I’m a fool, I assumed things would go back to normal when you accepted to help us, when you welcomed us back. You’ve been really good to us, I know a lot of what has happened hasn’t been your fault, but I don’t hold a grudge against you. I know you have our best interests at heart, you even helped Bucky to get better, and I’m really grateful for that”

“You shouldn’t thank me for that” Tony said with a clipped tone

“What? You mean helping Bucky? Why not? Helping him was the right thing to do Tony! I’m proud of your decision to leave your differences with him behind you, that’s what being a good team player is all about” Steve said eagerly.

“No, really, you shouldn’t thank me. Steve, I wasn’t doing you or Barnes any favors when I let the Accords council use my B.A.R.F technology to treat the Winter Soldier. I did it because, by law, I was forced to comply with a federal order. Not doing it would have meant I could have been sent to jail. That was part of the initial offer we made to you when we first offered you to sign the Accords, Barnes’s psychological treatment was part of that deal””

Steve hadn’t known that, it made him feel like a fool for thinking Tony had cared about Bucky’s wellbeing.

“I’m glad Barnes’s treatment was successful, it is a relief to know the Winter Soldier will surface no more” said Tony with an impassive tone.

Steve didn’t know what to say to that, so he tried to go with what he had been rehearsing “I would also like to apologize for not trusting you when the Accords first surfaced, now I understand why you took the decision to back them up. I think I can even understand why you created the Iron legion and Ultron. I might not agree with the way you handled things, but at least now I understand your point of view, and I have to admit it was something I hadn’t cared to analyze before now”

Well, that at least was a relief to hear. All this time Tony had internalized the guilt, believing it had been his fault things had gone so wrong, but now, he was learning that Steve had never even tried to understand his point of view. It was a bittersweet feeling knowing that no matter what he might had tried, any dialogue between them had been doomed to die from the very beginning.

“I just want us to try to be friends again Tony”

Tony stayed silent, he wasn’t sure if Steve comprehended what he was asking of him.

As the silence stretched longer, Steve decided to speak again “Please say something”

After a moment, Tony took a deep breath “I don’t’ believe you actually know how friendships work Steve” he said as a matter of fact “You cannot force people to forgive you just because you want them to, that is a choice that is beyond your control”

Steve seemed to flinch at that, but he remained quiet.

“So far, you’ve apologized for the things you believe I wanted to hear. But are you even sorry for the way you constantly antagonized me on the team? For mistrusting me every time something bad happened?” He knew he was raising his voice, but he didn’t care, now that he had started to talk, he couldn’t stop the flow of recriminations that left his mouth “For constantly making me feel guilty for things that were beyond my control? For leaving me stranded on a powerless suit in the middle of Siberia?” he was sickened with Steve’s utterly idiotic illusion that they could be friends again, when he wasn’t sure they had ever been.

Steve felt desperate. None of this was going according to his plan, he was losing his opportunity to tell Tony how he really felt, and he couldn’t keep hiding it any longer.

“Yes!! I’m sorry!! I’m sorry for all of that too!! I’ve been an idiot! Why can’t you simply accept my apologies?! Why did you take us back if you don’t feel like we could be friends again? That we couldn’t build back what we once had?!!” He knew he sounded desperate, but he didn’t care. He didn’t understand what Tony was playing at, why did he have to torture him by not telling him what he really wanted.

“Steve, I welcomed you back because I need you...” Tony said without any emotion on his face.

Steve’s heart jumped to his throat, had he heard that correctly? He couldn’t believe it. Just as he was about to tell Tony that he also needed him desperately, that everything he had done so far was to gain Tony’s attention, the man kept talking, so Steve turned his attention back to the conversation.

“...I welcomed all of you back because earth is defenseless without us. You say you understand why I built the Iron Legion, why I was researching on the Ultron project, but I don’t think you have really grasped what I’ve been trying to do. I know there is a terrible threat out there, and we have no way to fight it. You have all called me paranoid, but I don’t care. I will work myself to death if I have to, trying to protect the people from any harm that might come their way. That is the sole reason why you are all here, I need you and every other superhuman out there, to help me protect earth. You have accepted a responsibility to defend others. I am here to make sure that we can do that in an efficient way”

Steve felt like crying, of course Tony only needed him as a team mate. He knew he had a duty as an Avenger to protect the people, and he knew that, amongst all of them, Tony was the one that took that responsibility to heart. He had witnessed the way Tony had changed from a reckless billionaire playing to be a hero, to sacrificing everything he had for a just cause, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

But that wasn’t enough for Steve, he needed for Tony to understand that he wasn’t in this only for the team “But what about...?! Tony, you have to understand! YOU are the reason that I... I came back because... because I couldn’t bear to stay away from you!!” he blurted out.

A heavy silence fell between them, and as time passed, Steve felt more and more awkward. Tony studied him with a detached expression that he didn’t know how to interpret.

“Ok” came Tony’s reply at last.

“What? what do you mean Ok?” Steve could feel a furious blush climbing up his neck and into his cheeks.

“O. K.” Tony enunciated the syllables as if he were talking to a particularly dense child “I’m glad you got all of that off your chest”

Steve felt paralyzed, he felt how Tony’s words pierced through his heart, shattering it without the slightest hint of remorse.

“Is that all you’ve got to say Tony?! Did you her what I said? What I... the way I feel about you?” Steve’s shock was slowly receding to let anger take its place, his voice rising with each word.

“I heard you perfectly Steve, but there is nothing I can do about the way you feel” with a sigh, he tried to assess the situation. He hadn’t considered the captain had it in him to finally get his head out of his ass and figure out his feelings, but he was in no way responsible for them, nor was he obliged to reciprocate them, and he would be damned if Steve expected him to try and make him feel better about it, when the man had shown zero empathy towards him so far. “I’m happy you have figured out that aspect of your life, but I do not feel the same way about you”

Tony could tell Steve was livid. The man had probably never been rejected once since becoming an enhanced human, and he suspected Steve didn’t know how to handle that. In all the years he had known him, he had seen how people all around him had prostrated themselves at the soldier’s feet. There was just something about the man that compelled respect and adoration from the others. Tony was probably one of the few that resisted the captain’s charm, and that had always been a point of friction between them.

“Is it because of Strange?” Steve spat the name with such disdain that it made Tony’s skin crawl, his anger raising at the possibility that something might threaten Stephen.

“That is neither here nor there Rogers. My personal relationships ought not to concern you. Furthermore, know that my feelings for you do not depend on my feelings for anyone else” he said calmly. He needed to press on Steve that no matter who he was dating or not, he wouldn’t consider a relationship with him, so the captain better not get any ideas that he could somehow remove Stephen from the equation to replace him.

“He’s no good for you Tony! I know it!” with an appalling lack of self-control Steve stood from his chair and slammed his fist against the desk. His enormous fist landed over the handsome reddish wood surface, breaking it and making a huge dent on it. Several splinters went flying in all directions by the force of the blow, one of them striking Tony in the face, a tiny trail of blood suddenly trickling down his cheekbone.

The blood seemed to unleash several things at the same time. Steve seemed to come to himself, a deathly paleness overcoming his previously blushing face. He was immediately sorry for letting his temper get the best of him, he had in no way intended to hurt Tony.

For his part, Tony had had enough. He got up and planted both hands on either side of the dent on his desk, leaning menacingly towards Steve, speaking in a low and barely contained voice “What the fuck do you want from me Rogers? I’ve heard what you had to say. What else is there? I cannot be responsible for what you feel, just as you can’t be responsible for what I or anyone else feels about you. I will not have that on my consciousness, and I will not allow you to make me feel like I owe you something. Understood?”

Steve was pale, he couldn’t avert his eyes from Tony’s. He had never seen him like this before, the man had a fire in his eyes that gave him chills.

“I’m so sorry Tony!! I didn’t mean... I... I never meant to hurt you!” came his pleading words.

With a visible effort, Tony took a deep breath, wiping away the blood with the back of his hand.

“Listen Steve, I want you to consider my next words very carefully” he said, looking at the man in the eye and making sure he had his full attention. “I don’t know what you’re expecting form me, but this is all you get, this is as civil as I can be towards you. Please do not assume that we can be friends again or have any other sort of relationship outside of the team. It simply won’t happen. As your leader, I understand you are an important part of this team, and I expect you to realize that you have a responsibility to defend the people in need. I also expect you to leave aside your personal differences with me or anyone else, just as I have done with ALL of you, and focus on what is really important. So please, whatever it is that you’ve gotten inside your head, I beg of you to reconsider it. Outside of team trainings and missions, I do not wish to engage in any personal interactions with you, and if you really are as sorry as you say you are, I would expect you to respect my wishes. Now, if that is all, I’d really appreciate it if you could leave me to my work”

Steve felt like the air had left his lungs, he felt like his chest was being crushed by an invisible and relentless force. He had been a fool, of course Tony wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Steve knew he had been an idiot, trying to push his feelings on Tony. Was he blind? Couldn’t he tell he’d been hurting him all this time? Even now... the blood still trickling down the brunet’s face filled him with unabashed embarrassment. No wonder Tony hated him.

He didn’t know what to do, but he at least needed to respect Tony’s wishes, so he slowly got up from his seat and turned around to leave the room. He stopped inches from the closed door, his back to Tony “I just want to tell you that I’m really sorry Tony, I have behaved like an idiot, and I promise you I will not do this ever again. Like I told you in that letter, you can count on me whenever you need me. I take pride in being an Avenger, and I will do my best to protect the people from any treat. If you think there’s something dangerous coming our way, well, I believe you”

Without waiting for an answer, Steve left the office, closing the door behind him.

Tony let himself fall heavily on his leather chair, letting out a deep sigh. Things could have gone way worse, so he counted his blessings for that. He still couldn’t believe Steve had confessed his feelings for him, it was true he had always known there had been a latent sexual tension between them, but he would have never guessed the captain would be able to figure it out himself. As for giving Tony his support, well, that had been completely unexpected. He knew the captain was a man of his word, so he decided he could count on him to keep a clear head and not do anything that could harm the team or the people that he had come to think of as his family.

He felt a sting on his cheekbone, so he gingerly touched it, the little cut burned like a bitch, and a small trickle of blood was still falling from it. He decided to put some gauze over it, before the blood stained his suit. Standing from his chair, he entered his personal bathroom, where he opened the faucet and washed his face.

Two different men had apologized to him for their stupid behavior in the span of 12 hours, he really didn’t know how to feel about that, but he prayed to whatever entity that was out there, that he wouldn’t have to worry anymore about unsolicited declarations of love or jealous boyfriends from now on.


	14. Burnt Toast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look at you! Still trying to make excuses for him!”
> 
> Or
> 
> Sthephen and Tony have a big fight, Peter is as perceptive as ever, and a new threat looms over them all.

Things were a hot mess right now.

Tony didn’t remember the last time he had been so tired and tense. It had definitely not been a good week for him.

After his discussion with Steve, Tony had debated on what to do next. It was clear that he would have to tell Carol what had happened and alert the council to decide on some disciplinary actions against the soldier. He also needed a new desk, god damnit.

At least he hadn’t needed any stitches for his face. Dr. Alice, a young and cheerful doctor they had hired to oversee the compound’s clinic had given him a skeptical glance when he had told her he had had an accident involving a desk. She had ended up pulling out a considerably large splinter from his face but had informed him that with some disinfectant and some dressing bandages he’d be as good as new.

He decided against calling Stephen right away, he had a prototype testing session with his tech team programmed for, well, 20 minutes ago actually, so he had to hurry to get to that, and a couple of meetings scheduled for that evening, so it wasn’t like he was stalling for some time before he told his boyfriend what had happened, not him.

He had finally gone to bed at roughly two am. He knew Stephen hated staying up late, so, technically, it wasn’t really his fault he hadn’t gotten to talk with Stephen today, he’d had a very occupied day after all. He knew this would come back to bite him in the ass, but there was not much he could do about it, he would have to make it up to Stephen when he found out.

 

* * *

 

 

He really hated being right all the time. He had known he’d get in trouble for trying to hide the incident he had had with Steve. Although technically he hadn’t tried to hide anything per se, he just hadn’t had the time to tell Stephen what had happened yet.

It had all come crashing down on him the morning after. Tony had gone down to breakfast like he usually did. He hadn’t been able to hide the skin colored Band-Aid on his cheekbone, and unfortunately, it hadn’t gone unnoticed by the others. Carol, Danny, Vision, Luke and Jessica were already getting some breakfast by the time he made his appearance.

“Hey Tony, what happened to your face?” came Luke’s jab.

“What are you talking about? He always looks that bad” said Danny with a gleeful smile, not letting go of the opportunity to pull Tony’s leg.

Tony evaded Carol’s knowing eyes and Vision’s preoccupied glances. At least the conversation with Carol had gone as expected. They had both decided that a disciplinary action would have to be taken against Steve, if only to establish a precedent. Tony debated with her on whether or not to disclose the real reason behind their argument to the Accords council. Tony wasn’t doing it as a favor to Steve, but the incident involved part of Tony’s private life, and he didn’t feel comfortable disclosing that information to the council. Carol had agreed with him, so they had issued the report leaving out the part about Steve declaring his love for Tony. Either way, the council would surely take the matter into their hands soon.

“Keep that up you two, and you won’t get any more waffles” said Jessica from the kitchen, were she was stacking her plate with a little tower of said waffles.

“Thank you Jess, its good to know at least someone in this house appreciates this gorgeous face” he said as he took his usual seat at the table.

She gave him a small hug as she approached the table, letting a couple of waffles down on his plate.

“Hey, watch it Stark, the only gorgeous face Jess can appreciate is mine” Luke said with a playful grin.

“Sorry to break it to you dear husband, but as a free and independent woman, I can admire as many gorgeous faces as I desire” she replied with a smirk, as she planted a quick kiss over Luke’s lips.

Tony and Danny continued their banter as a golden portal suddenly opened on the other end of the kitchen, signaling Stephen’s arrival. Everybody welcomed the doctor, as the man sat down next to Tony.

He knew for a fact that the doctor was not a morning person and had hoped he wouldn’t notice the small Band-Aid on Tony’s face. He should have known better. He saw the exact moment when the doctors drowsy face focused on his cheekbone, a questioning gaze directed at him. He had thanked the lord Stephen hadn’t said anything in front of the others, but once they had been alone, well, that had been an entirely different story.

He had never seen Stephen so mad. The man was fuming while he kept walking back and forth through Tony’s room.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” was the first thing the man had said after Tony recounted the previous day’s events.

“I know this is not gonna cut it, I really do, but seriously, I didn’t have time to call you yesterday, I had several meetings that kept me busy and I sort of got carried away with that”

“No, that is certainly not ‘gonna cut it’ Tony” Stephen said with a furious voice.

“I’m sorry! But I’m fine, don’t worry about it, everything’s taken care of” he said with a placating tone.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, because he could see Stephen bristle at his words.

“You should still have told me Anthony, this is something important, no mater how much you want to downplay it. That man assaulted you, and for what you tell me he was trying to guilt-trip you into accepting his feelings, that deceiving bastard!”

Stephen had never called him Anthony during a fight before, so he knew he was in trouble, but really, what was he to do? None of this was his fault, well, almost none of it, but still, it wasn’t fair that he was the one that had to pay the price for Steve’s stupidity.

“Calm down Stephen, please, I know Steve was an ass, but I have to say that this time it was an accident” he said, unconsciously touching the band-aid on his face.

“Look at you! Still trying to make excuses for him! He’s got you so wrapped up with his manipulative schemes, that you’re not capable of looking at things the way they are”

“Hey! I’m not trying to defend anyone ok? And don’t you dare imply that I am somehow blinded by that asshole’s lies!” He was losing his patience, he knew he had been wrong in trying to hide things from Stephen, but this had been exactly what he had been trying to avoid.

Stephen sent him a fulminating gaze that made Tony fall silent

“I made you a promise Anthony, but I will not allow him to hurt you, not even by ‘accident’” He said in a cold tone.

Tony was about to reply to him, when they heard a beep from FRIDAY.

“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt boss, but you are required in the boarding room, Agents Romanoff and Barnes are being debriefed by Colonels Rhodes and Danvers, and they are asking for your presence”.

Stephen turned around and stormed out of the room, not letting Tony say anything in his defense.

“Thank you, girl, please tell them I’m on my way” he replied with a heavy sigh. He supposed it would be the best thing to let Stephen cool off before they finished their talk.

 

* * *

 

 

Carol, Rhodey, Natasha and Bucky greeted him when he entered the room, with Nat and Bucky sharing a speculative glance once they noticed Tony’s face.

By now he had already told Rhodey and Pepper about Steve’s confession. They had both been rather surprised by the news, and by the look of the widow’s and Bucky’s face, he could presume they already knew as well.

Clearing his throat, he took a seat at the head of the table, getting ready for whatever news he was about to receive.

“Hello everyone, so, what have you guys found? Is it as bad as we’ve been thinking?”

“It is worse, Tony” said Natasha, immediately changing her demeanor into business mode.

She presented a folder with a file and a photo attached to it. “This is Darius Montalvo, he was the lead engineer on the Extremis project under Aldrich Killian’s orders”

Tony studied the file closely. He couldn’t believe Killian was still causing him problems, even after his death.

Bucky took over then “Using the information you found on Nepal, we found another lab down in Ukraine. Using some recordings from a net of security cameras from around the perimeter, we were able to identify Dr. Darius in the area. We also secured a sample of the virus they were developing there. The scientists involved have been interrogated, but none of them had any idea what they were working on. Most of the experiments were kept under heavy surveillance. Unfortunately, we couldn’t locate any live specimens, only tissue and blood samples”

“So far, the leads show that this virus he’s been developing is a variation of the original Extremis Killian developed, although everything indicates that it is a far more lethal version of it” Natasha said, handing Tony another set of grainy pictures “The footage we recovered from the Nepal site showed a lot of failed tests. Apparently two subjects were successfully infused with the virus, but they escaped and destroyed that lab. Those were the ones you took down Tony. As far as we know, those were the only successful experiments Darius managed to create, although I wouldn’t discard the possibility of more of those things being hidden away somewhere”

“I take it Dr. Darius wasn’t amongst the victims found on that lab, or on the one you raided in Ukraine” asked Rhodey with a somber expression, he didn’t like the sound of any of this.

“No, we couldn’t match his DNA with any of the remains, nor was he among the detained staff at the other lab” Natasha had been working on this for the last couple of months. The experiments that man had deceived were horrendous, and it had really made her question the man’s humanity.

“Figures” said Carol with a concerned voice “We need to keep digging on this, we have to find this man as soon as possible”

Bucky nodded his agreement “Especially since we’ve heard rumors about him trying to sell the virus to the highest bidder” he said whit a somber expression, his intel had directed him to numerous hints that the man would have enough of this virus to create a small army of Extremis-enhanced creatures, but so far they hadn’t been able to corroborate any of those leads.

Carol and Tony shared a preoccupied glance. Both had been actively working on this with Nepal’s authorities for the past couple of months, to no avail. Natasha’s and Barnes’s findings represented a good breakthrough, but it meant nothing if they couldn’t contain Darius before the man unleashed its atrocity into the world.

 

* * *

 

 

 

With Natasha and Bucky’s discovery that the Nepal virus was a modified version of Extremis, Tony had gone down to one of his private labs, where he had secluded himself to analyze the sample Natasha had procured him.

Over the past two months Tony had assembled a team of his most trusted engineers to investigate the material he had found in Nepal. There hadn’t been a lot to go on back then, but with these new findings, he was sure they could crack this new virus and find a way to neutralize it.

Once he began analyzing the sample he could see the resemblance with Extremis. He soon discovered that this version was much more potent than the original virus. The reason that he hadn’t recognized it on the creatures he had encountered was because Darius had incorporated some foreign animal DNA to the mix, turning the hosts into grotesque monsters. At first Tony hadn’t understood what this madman would gain by doing this, but he quickly discovered what the man had achieved: he had discovered a way to neutralize the excessive heat the original Extremis created, making it more stable, and he’d done so without diluting the effects of the virus. The solution this man had come up with was wickedly clever, but in the process, he had created a formula to create monstrous chimeras with horrifying powers. He discovered that once an organism was infected with the virus, the test subject’s DNA was modified completely, overriding almost all of its brain functions, especially those controlled by the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for controlling body temperature and violent behavior, amongst other basic functions.

He now understood why the creatures he’d fought had been resistant to heat and fire and seemingly unable to control their rage. Since fighting against them, Tony had been worried that there might have been a way to return whatever poor soul had been infected with this back to normal, but he was now understanding that even if there had been a way to reverse the effects of Extremis, their brains would have never gone back to normal, the damage the virus inflicted on it’s victims was simply too large.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Stephen had been fuming inside his room at the Sanctum Santorum for the past day and a half. Wong had already threatened to curse him if he didn’t go and apologize to Tony. Even his cloak seemed displeased with him. He knew Tony loved to spoil his cloak, but he’d never imagined it would turn against him in favor of Tony.

He recognized that he was behaving like an idiot, but he had been furious with Tony for purposely lying to him. He couldn’t believe the man would keep a secret from him, especially something regarding Steve. He knew it was his jealousy distorting things and blowing them out of proportions, but he couldn’t help himself. He had tried to meditate to calm himself and was surprised to find he couldn’t concentrate at all. He was having a hard time comprehending how someone could evoke in him such raw and primal emotions without seemingly meaning to.

He knew Tony was angry at him, and he couldn’t blame him, he had stormed out of the compound like a sulky teenager and had deliberately ignored Tony’s calls. He hadn’t even given the brunet the benefit of the doubt, deciding to believe the worst instead of keeping a cool head and discussing things like a sensible adult. Even if it pained him, he recognized that perhaps the reason behind Tony not telling him was exactly this behavior he was displaying. Most of the time Tony had a pretty accurate foresight on things, he must have anticipating him behaving like a fool. He knew that didn’t dismiss his right to be angry, but perhaps he shouldn’t have reacted the way he had.

As much as he felt sorry, he hadn’t been able to apologize to Tony yet, the man had disappeared into one of his labs to study the recently discovered Extremis virus and hadn’t come back out yet. He had asked FRIDAY to keep him informed whenever Tony surfaced again, he wanted to believe the AI would feel sorry for him and let him know as soon as possible. As for all the text messages he had sent Tony, he had only gotten one response, a message asking him to stop cursing Steve.

Stephen had found an interesting little spell that made the recipient unable to taste anything but burn toast. He knew it had been awfully petty, but he had found it extremely therapeutic to curse the stupid man with that childish spell. He should have known Tony would find out, so now he had to apologize for yet another immature thing he had done.

He really was losing his mind thinking of what he could do to make it up to the brunet, and he’d better come up with something fast, because he couldn’t bare the recriminating glances Peter kept throwing at him, no doubt the boy had found out about their fight and was more than ready to take down anyone who dared hurt Tony Stark, just as he had done with a certain blond soldier.

Tony had missed the previous day’s training. Carol had got them up to date with this new Extremis virus situation and had explained that Tony was currently examining said virus in hopes of finding a cure, given the imminent threat of a possible terrorist attack.

That training session had been a weird one. Peter had seemed unusually quiet. Stephen had never seen the boy give a cold glare to anyone before, but the kid wouldn’t stop glancing daggers at Rogers. He suspected Peter had somehow made the connection between his fight with Tony, the brunette’s small cut and Steve’s guilty face. He knew the boy was unusually perceptive, so Stephen had feared the boy would do something he would later regret.

Fortunately, things hadn’t gone as badly as they could have. Stephen had been worried he would have to come between Peter and Steve, and frankly, he had no real inclination on interceding on behalf of the soldier. But the only incident had been Peter ‘accidentally’ dowsing the captain with a spray of super long-lasting web fluid. He was secretly impressed and a little bit proud of the web swinger, Peter had made it look like an honest to god accident, so no one could claim anything foul going on, but he knew, he had seen it in Peter’s smug demeanor, even through the boy’s mask. By the end of the training session, Rogers had been covered from head to toes with the sticky fluid, a big training mat sticking to his back, and an annoyed frown plastered on his face. Tony would have definitely been proud of the kid.


	15. Golden petals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well doctor, seems like your date is here! Good luck”
> 
> Or
> 
> Stephen takes Tony out on a date to apologize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your previous comments!   
> *some warnings apply for some smutty content on this chapter!  
> As always I appreciate any constructive criticism. Enjoy!!

Tony knew he was smirking like an idiot, but he didn’t care.

He let his weight fall back down on the couch with a content smile. Rhodey had been telling him what Spider-man had done to the captain. The mental image of a flustered and web covered Steve made him crack up, he would definitely have to ask FRIDAY for a copy of that training footage for later entertainment.

Once their laughter subdued, Rhodey took a good look at his friend. He could tell by Tony’s deep bruises under his eyes that the man hadn’t slept in god only knew how long. He loved his friend, but he knew the man tended to overlook his own health whenever work was involved.

“How are you doing Tony? You look tired man”

“Well, now that you mention it, I do feel like a bus ran me over” he said while stretching his arms, his back making a satisfying ‘pop’ sound “I just got back from the lab, I haven’t slept in the last 36 hours, and I feel like I’m going to crash anytime soon” the headache he’d had for the last 2 hours was getting worse. He used to get by without sleep way longer than this during his college days, he guessed age was finally catching up with him.

“You really have to stop doing this Tones. Yes, this new virus is important, but so are you! Try to get some rest, I’ll tell the others not to disturb you for a while”

“Thanks honey bear, you’re a real pal”

“Sure” He said as he got up from the couch and made his way to the door “By the way, Stephen has been asking for you, is everything ok with you two?”

With a sigh, Tony absentmindedly rubbed at his tired eyes “Yeah, we just had a disagreement, but I’ll fix it, as soon as I get a good cup of coffee…”

“No Tony, sleep first, you need to rest. I’m sure Stephen won’t mind, not when it comes to your wellbeing” he hoped against hope that Tony would listen to him at least once in his life.

Tony’s mind felt fuzzy, the way it usually felt whenever he had gone too long without any rest. Deciding that thinking was too much trouble he rested his head against the couch’s backrest “You are right platypus, I think I’m going to pass out anyway” the end of his sentence coming out in a jumbled slur.

Rhodey let out a small huff, he came back into the room and made his way to the couch. Tony was already half asleep and didn’t really protested when Rhodey pushed him over and put a small cushion under his head, making sure Tony was as comfortable as the couch allowed. Reaching over, he pulled out the soft blanket that was kept in one of the side table’s drawers. A testament of the many times Tony had spent the night in this office.

He knew Tony could take care of himself, but it didn’t hurt to keep an eye on him. Without Pepper there, he had feared Tony would spiral into his old destructive habits. He was beyond relieved to see his friend seemed relatively happy and well. Even if he had been having some troubles with Stephen, he knew the doctor was a good man, and he trusted him to keep one of his oldest and dearest friends happy.

 

* * *

 

 

The hallway was in complete silence. Stephen had been standing in the middle of it for the past 10 minutes with a beautiful bouquet of flowers in one hand and trying his best to look calm.

FRIDAY had finally alerted him that Tony had left his room. Ever since hearing that Tony was back at the compound, he had been looking for the perfect time to intercept him, he had an apology to make and he was hell bent on doing it the right way.

Stephen could hear voices coming from the entrance on the other side of the room, and he gave a mental sigh. He was already very self-conscious, and the fact that he was standing in the middle of the hall like a nervous teenager waiting for a date he wasn’t even sure would want to go out with him wasn’t helping a bit.

“Wow doc, are you ok? You look red like a beet! Who you taking to prom?!” came Luke’s playful voice from behind him. Jessica and Luke were looking at him from behind a couple of take-out bags, no doubt they had decided to have a quite night in by themselves.

Stephen had donned his most handsome suit, a dark red tux with a black lapel and a black bowtie. He knew his face was red, he hadn’t expected to meet anyone while he was waiting for Tony.

“Don’t listen to him Stephen, you look very dashing!”

“Thank you, I’m…I’m waiting for Tony” he said while trying to fight the blushing.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll love the surprise!” Jess said with a reassuring smile. They had all noticed Tony and Stephen had had a fight, but she was glad to see they were trying to work things out, in her opinion they made a really cute couple.

She turned around gesturing for Luke to leave the doctor alone “Come on dear, dinner is getting cold”

Just then, the elevator on the far side of the hall opened, revealing a bleary-eyed Tony and an amused looking Vision.

“Well Viz, I wouldn’t mind taking a look at it, we could…” Tony stopped talking mid-sentence, he seemed to have noticed Stephen standing there, tall and handsome, giving him a shy smile. The man seemed to forget whatever he was saying, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. He didn’t even appear to notice Vision nodding to the doctor and turning back into the elevator, closing the doors behind him.

Jess took the hint and reached for Luke, trying to pull him out of the way.

“Well doctor, seems like your date is here! Good luck” he managed to whisper to the man before his wife pulled him away into a different room.

Both men seemed rooted to the ground, until Stephen approached Tony, an uncertain smile on his face.

“Hey”

“Hey doc”

“These are for you” he said, presenting his peace offering to Tony.

A bright smile illuminated his face “Thank you, they’re lovely!”

“Tony, I have a lot to apologize for, please allow me to take you out to dinner, where I can properly express how sorry I am for hurting you”

Tony felt his face would crack from the wide smile he was giving the doctor “Always the charmer doc! Of course, just let me go change first ok?” he motioned at his plain track suit. He didn’t want to ruin the moment, but he felt his attire wasn’t the best for the occasion.

Stephen extended both hands towards Tony and gestured in a ‘allow me’ sort of way. Tony nodded, intrigued as to what Stephen was planning. With a complicated hand movement, he summoned a series of light strings out of thin air, they enclosed Tony’s track suit and embedded it with a golden shine. When the light faded, Tony could see Stephen had charmed his clothes into a gorgeous black tuxedo with golden embeddings on its lapel and a golden tie with an intricate pattern to go with it.

“Ok, I’m seriously impressed now. Stephen baby, I’m going to have to appoint you as my new tailor from now on”

A smile escaped his lips, he was very pleased Tony had liked his spell “I’m sorry my love, but the spell will only last for a couple of hours”

A mischievous grin appeared on Tony’s face “Oh well, I guess I won’t be needing it by the end of the night then eh?”

Stephen let out a surprised laugh, the butterflies in his stomach finally settling down.

 

* * *

 

After some more shameless flirting on Tony’s part, they made their way out of the compound.

Stephen had booked a little rooftop restaurant for themselves, so they were the only commensals there. The entire personnel were tripping over themselves at the opportunity to serve them. Even though he didn’t have the wealth he once had, Stephen still kept some money from his days as a surgeon, and so he had paid the restaurant very handsomely to secure their privacy.

He wasn’t afraid of the general public seeing them together, after all, the media had been speculating about them for months now and it hadn’t bothered him so far, but he knew Tony had become incredibly zealous with his personal life, he felt like the media had taken too much from him already, he had been their scapegoat for far too long, and he was sick of it, he wasn’t willing to share any part of his life any longer.

The place had been decorated marvelously, there was a gorgeous flower centerpiece with some candles illuminating their table, and a row of string lights decorating the place, flooding the terrace with a soft light and a romantic atmosphere. They even had a violinist serenating them while they shared a delicious dinner.

“I’m really sorry Tony, I behaved like an asshole. There is no excuse for my behavior!”

“Well, technically, you were sort of entitled…” he said with an awkward smile “I’m sorry Stephen, I shouldn’t have waited so long to tell you what had happened” He took hold of one of Stephen’s hands “Look at me, accusing others of keeping secrets from me when that’s exactly what I do the first chance I get” he said with a self-deprecating smile.

“Tony, you cannot be seriously comparing what you did with what Steve did to you!!” he said with a concerned face “What Steve did was atrocious! He lied to yow about something monumental! He betrayed your trust! I...” He was speechless for a second, he couldn’t believe Tony still had so much guilt engrained in his mind. How could this wonderful man feel responsible for the atrocious things done to him?

“I… well, it’s the same principle…” he said, trying not to upset Stephen. He just felt like a hypocrite for wanting people to be honest with him when he had so much trouble being honest with others. He had spent so much time hiding things form the outside world, like his need for comfort, his pain and suffering, that he genuinely had trouble identifying this destructive trait of his.

“No Tony, I will not allow you to do this” With a deep sigh, he asked “Tell me this, were you really going to tell me about what happened with Steve?”

Tony seemed puzzled by that “Well, of course I was!! I just didn’t want to tell you over the phone. I felt like I had to tell you face to face, but… it was too late by then”

He tightened his hold on Tony’s hand “See? You are nothing like Rogers, and if you dare make that comparison ever again I WILL get incredibly mad at you”

With a sheepish smile he returned the squeeze “Ok, understood… Thank you Stephen” He said, having a bit of a hard time keeping his voice steady. It meant the world to him knowing that Stephen understood him and was willing to forgive him for his many many flaws.

 

 

Dessert had come their way while they discussed the events of the previous days. Even though they had only spent a couple of days apart they felt like much more time had gone by.

Tony had told Stephen all about his research with the virus, and he was surprised to find that the doctor understood it better than some of his engineers. The doctor had even given him some very helpful insights about the workings of the human brain that he could incorporate into his research.

It wasn’t that Tony forgot that Stephen used to be a world renown brain surgeon, it was simply that he had never seen the doctor in that facet, and he was rather blown away by the man’s expertise. After some consideration, they decided that Stephen should take a look at what Tony had found out about the virus so far, perhaps with Stephen’s fresh look at it they could find a way to neutralize it.

But right now, they were in the middle of discussing one of the juiciest gossips Tony had heard in a while, and it was apparently what everyone had been talking about in the compound for the last couple of days.

“So, Nat and Bucky eh? Who would’ve thought!” He said as he took a last bite out of his frankly exquisite lemon cake.

“Well, certainly not the captain, you should’ve seen his face. I know he has enhanced healing, but we could still make out the black eye he was sporting”

“Really? But what happened? How did you find out?”

“Well, Danny swears he heard a commotion coming down from their building moments before we were all called to meet in the boardroom, you see, Carol wanted to debrief us on the extremis situation” He said while taking a sip from his coffee.

“Anyway, we could tell they were all suspiciously miffed, except for Scott, he was just his usual oblivious self, but Clint and Sam seemed to be trying to keep Barnes and Natasha away form a sulky looking Rogers”

Tony couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He couldn’t believe the day would come when the self-righteous Captain America would get into a fight with his beloved Bucky.

“Hope latter told us she heard from Scott that apparently, Rogers had found out about Barnes’s and Natasha’s relationship, and he had had the brilliant idea of letting them know exactly what he thought of that. Natasha wasnt having  any of it and, well, things seemed to have escalated from there. But by Scott’s recount, Nat has a mean left punch”

They both let out an amused laugh. Tony still wasn’t sure what he felt towards Natasha, her betrayal had probably been the last straw that had broken him down after the whole civil war fiasco; he had genuinely believed she was on his side and had his back. He knew it was probably nothing personal, but it still hurt him. But he was frankly impressed, he would never have thought her capable of turning against the cap. Maybe Steve had finally pressed her buttons enough to get a reaction out of her.

As much as he was enjoying hearing this gossip, he knew this meant bad news for the team. A sanction would no doubt be issued against the Widow for that little display, although something would have to be said for the Captain’s behavior as well. Tony just felt bad for Ms. Gray, the Accords officer that oversaw the ex-vengers probations, she must be to the gills with paperwork, what with the rogues’ constant shenanigans.

 

* * *

 

After dinner, Stephen took Tony back to the sanctum. Tony wasn’t really expecting any more surprises for the night, after all, the flowers, the magic tuxedo and the magnificent dinner had been demonstration enough of Stephen’s remorse, but once he set foot on Stephen’s room, he was beyond flabbergasted.

Stephen had decorated the room with several candles illuminating the place, but the outstanding part where the golden flower petals enchanted to float in a slow circular pattern around the room, each emitting a soft warm glow, making it seem like a shower of petals were delicately falling from the ceiling and into the center of the room. It was a rather beautiful and enthralling sight. He really couldn’t believe Stephen had gone through all that trouble, for him. He really felt like he didn’t deserve all the effort, but a tiny part of him celebrated the fact that he had finally found someone who CARED, someone who showered him with praise and gifts and romantic details, someone who didn’t let him fall into his destructive habits, and even had taught him he could let go of all his remorse and guilt.

For his part, Stephen couldn’t keep his eyes away from Tony, the man was gorgeous, and he couldn’t believe he was his to cherish. He loved the expression on his lover’s face when he saw the surprise, as if he couldn’t believe it was real. With a slow and confident movement, he took Tony’s hand and pulled him towards the center of the room and into the shower of petals.

Turning to face the brunet, Stephen inched closer, sealing his lips over Tony’s, one hand delicately caressing his face while pulling him flush against his body with the other. They melted against each other, their kiss slow and passionate, as if Stephen were trying to imbue it with all the love and adoration he felt towards this magnificent man that was somehow also in love with him.

With trembling hands, Stephen reached inside Tony’s jacket, pulling it slowly off the brunet’s shoulders, letting it slide to the floor, next came the necktie and the white pristine shirt. He reached for Tony’s pants, but his trembling fingers made it a trying work, until he felt Tony’s fingers over his, helping him open the buttons, the brunet bending down and pulling them off all the way.

Stephen took a step back then, taking the time to admire his lover’s bare body. His hard angles and firm muscles, his many scars and battle wounds, even the little imperfections were beautiful.

The petals falling around them were warm to the touch, they almost felt like a lover’s caress everywhere they touched Tony’s skin. For a moment he felt self-conscious under the scrutinizing gaze, but it quickly turned to lust once he saw the hunger in Stephen’s eyes.

Stephen seemed unable to control his desire any longer and stepping closer he placed both hands on his hips, pushing him backwards and into the bed, where he promptly fell in a heap. Stephen stood looming over him, desire glimmering in his eyes. Bending down, he very delicately placed small hot wet kisses over his thighs, slowly getting closer to his throbbing member. Stephen raised his gaze then, locking eyes with him before engulfing him completely. The sensation was overwhelming, he let his head fall back into the mattress as his lover let his tongue glide over his tip, only to suck him complete once again, establishing a steady rhythm with both his mouth and hands. He felt a touch ghosting near his entrance, and the sensation sent a shiver down his spine. Without any conscious thought he splayed his legs, in a silent beg for more.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at Stephen, wanting to see the man’s flushed and open-mouthed face, but he was surprised to find a golden glow emanating from the wizard’s hands. He must’ve made a startled sound, because he could feel the other man’s smile against his flushed skin. The rhythm Stephen had going on him was making his heart race, he was having troubles keeping his cries at bay, but the sudden feeling of a warm finger entering him made his hips buckle almost of their own accord. Stephen was relentless in his ministrations, he felt like he was very close to the edge, the need to come undone too strong to control it much longer.

With some difficulties he tried to move Stephen away, but the man was adamant on finishing him off. Giving up on the futile effort, he closed his eyes and let out a low grunt, his hips bucking again, his breath coming in small chocked gaps, the sensations becoming too much, until he let out one final loud groan, a tremor running down his muscles as he spilled himself inside Stephen’s eager mouth.

He saw white for a moment, the force of his orgasm making him fall back into the mattress. After a few seconds, he managed to lift his head, propping himself up on one elbow and looking down at a smug faced Stephen. The man had the audacity to lick his cum off a thumb in a very sultry fashion.

He let out an exhausted laugh, he was still having troubles focusing his eyes “Wow…” *pant* “Babe!” *pant* “That definitely gives ‘magic fingers’ a whole new meaning!”*pant* “What was that?!”

Letting himself fall beside him on the bed, Stephen embraced him and gave him a tender kiss on his temple “Something I’ve been researching, especially for you my love”

“Yeah! Well that was amazing! You want me to turn over...” he said as he tried to move, but feeling Stephen tighten his grip around him.

“Babe, what about you? Don’t you want…?”

“No, it’s ok, I’m rather comfy, besides, this night was all about you, I don’t mind spending the night pleasuring my love with nothing in return”

He knew Stephen was being serious, but he still felt amazed at his lover’s unselfishness “Stephen, honey, I don’t know what I did to deserve you” he said turning over and plantinga tender kiss over his lover’s reddened lips “but whatever it was, I’m really glad for it” he said with a content smile, he was feeling rather drowsy, and with a final “I love you” he let himself rest in the arms of his  beloved one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the end! I really hope you’ve enjoyed this little story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it! This was honestly a wild ride! I started with some drabbles and it soon became something much much bigger. I have another story planned following the events of this one, I just need some time to polish it off, but hopefully I’ll see you all again pretty soon! In the mean time enjoy!!


End file.
